Sensational-Adelaide.com

THE long-awaited upgrade to Arndale Shopping Centre, with 10 new shops and an outdoor plaza, has been given the green light.

Charles Sturt Council’s Development Assessment Panel last week approved an application by Centro Properties Group to spend $16 million upgrading the centre, including two new entrances.

The upgrade will also include new bike rack areas, improved landscaping, new carpark lighting, travelators and lifts.

pushbutton wrote:Who says the company will disintegrate?

Anyway 10 new shops eh?
And a massive budget of 16 whole million dollars being spent. Wow, I think?

Well not quite what I was hoping for but I guess it's all about improving the look of the centre then rather than increasing the size. Fair enough because that's what it does need most. It's just a bit unusual to not add a significant number of new shops when a centre is upgraded. I hope it will be enough money for them to replace the prehistoric floor tiles throughout the centre with some nice attractive new ones, and at least give the ceiling a nice fresh paint job, or better still replace it.

I have noticed in the last couple of weeks the centre is already beginning to look a bit better externally because they're painting the exterior walls in nice modern colours. I guess this is the first step in this upgrade and I'll look forward to seeing the rest of it very soon.

Challenge to $7bn Centro scheme

by: Bridget Carter
From: The Australian
November 25, 2011 12:00AM

ACCOUNTING firm PricewaterhouseCoopers says an agreement to merge Centro Properties Group's assets to create a new company with $7 billion of shopping centres suffers from "fundamental problems" that should prevent court approval.

A NSW Supreme Court hearing to approve the creation of the new $4.4bn listed Centro Retail Australia is expected to conclude today. If the judge supports the challenge to the scheme by Centro's former auditor, it could lead to the company being placed in administration.

Centro and its senior lenders have proposed a deal, given shareholder support this week, where senior lenders swap debt for equity in a new merged shopping centre company.

As part of that agreement, senior lenders will set aside $170m. Of that, $100m would be divided among Centro Properties security holders, convertible bondholders and hybrid lenders.

The remaining $70m would be used for the company's wind down and legal and adviser costs.
Free trial

The deal needs court approval to proceed.

In its submission presented to the court yesterday, PwC objects to the schemes, saying they prejudice PwC's interests and those of the class-action claimants, as contingent creditors, by reducing the assets available to satisfy contingent creditors.

PwC says it is not necessarily asking for the scheme to be dismissed outright but adjusted so that it does not compromise the claims of contingent creditors, which would not be met in full under the proposed restructure.

Centro says in its submissions that none of the matters raised by PwC should prevent the court approving the schemes.

"The problem with PwC's complaints is that they fail to recognise the reality of the current position," Centro says.

"Absent to the proposed restructure, PwC has no right to any part of the $100m.

"If the order of priorities on a winding up were observed, PwC would get nothing."

Centro's net equity attributable to ordinary shareholders is negative $1.7bn.

Centro has indicated that without the restructure it will not have sufficient cash to fund interest overheads and other ongoing expenses beyond December 15.