Credit Suisse frozen fund said nearing US$776m malls sale

[LONDON] Credit Suisse Group AG's real estate unit is nearing the sale of European shopping malls valued at about 700 million euros (S$1.05 billion), according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The three malls - two in Germany and one in Italy - are owned by Credit Suisse's CS Euroreal mutual fund, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The fund was frozen for redemptions in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis.

Bids for the Melody portfolio are due this week, the people said. Investors interested in bidding include Deka Group and Union Investment, two other people said. Representatives at Credit Suisse, Deka and Union declined to comment.

Almost 20 German property mutual funds halted redemptions following Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's bankruptcy in 2008, and some are still selling assets in order to meet government deadlines to wind down. CS Euroreal - one of the two biggest to be hit by the crisis - has sold about 4.6 billion euros of assets since it was frozen in 2010. It still has 1.9 billion euros to divest before it's handed to a custodian bank in April.

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