Billionaire’s widow targets mall giant in counterclaim
Jeff Swiatek
January 29, 2010
IndyStar.com
http://www.indystar.com/article/20100129/BUSINESS/1290330/1003/BUSINESS/Billionaire-s-widow-targets-mall-giant-in-counterclaim
Bren Simon has filed a counterclaim against the company her late husband co-founded, charging Simon Property Group with breach of agreement for refusing to give her stock or cash for her partnership holdings.
She also contends that her stepson, the Indianapolis-based company’s chairman and CEO, David Simon, is behind the denial.
The counterclaim ratchets up the stakes in a growing legal battle over the $1 billion-plus estate of Melvin Simon, who died in September at 82.
His widow contends in her 13-page filing Wednesday in Hamilton Superior Court that the company changed its reasoning for why it wouldn’t convert her holdings and settled on a reason that mischaracterizes the agreement governing the rules for doing a conversion.
The company “is not justified in withholding conversion” of her partnership units, her filing says. The value of the partnership stake she’s trying to liquidate isn’t estimated in the lawsuit.
Bren Simon, 66, said she wants to convert her stake in the company to diversify her investments.
The company sued her last week, seeking the court’s approval to deny conversion of the units until a will challenge filed by Bren Simon’s stepdaughter Deborah Simon is resolved.
The company said its partnership agreement lets it refuse to convert partnership holdings if there are liens or other encumbrances against them. It cites the will challenge as such an encumbrance.
The challenge questions changes made to the will and estate plan that give Bren Simon more of the inheritance than in a previous version.
Under the new will, David Simon and his two sisters inherit a much smaller portion of their father’s estate. The will was reworked seven months before Melvin Simon’s death when he was ill, suffering from a form of dementia and unable to think independently, Deborah Simon’s suit says.
Bren Simon contends in her filing that, although David Simon isn’t a listed plaintiff in the will challenge, he is represented by lawyers involved in the challenge.
Responding to the charge that David Simon is behind the denial, company spokesman Les Morris said Thursday: “The allegation is baseless. We are only seeking the court’s guidance on whether partnership units held in Mr. Simon’s family trust can be converted at this time.”
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