Mills Corp. / MLS

About Mills Corp.

1300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 400, Arlington, Va. 22209
www.themills.com | 703-526-5000 | Founded: 1994

Industry: Real Estate | Category: Public Companies

Mills's troubles have snowballed during its second round of accounting problems in less than a year.
In early 2005, the company announced that it needed to restate three years of earnings. In January of this year, the company said it was correcting financial statements going back to 2000. The Securities and Exchange Commission began an informal inquiry.
In February, Mills hired two investment banks to help it find an investor or possibly a buyer, and in March executives at Vornado Realty Trust said the company had informal discussions with Mills.
Mills abandoned 10 development projects at a loss of $71 million and borrowed $150 million to meet its cash needs. It dismissed 14 executives. Three other top executives departed or retired.
One of the company's major financial backers, a German fund manager, closed two of its funds after investors clamored to withdraw money, partly in response to the situation at Mills.
In March, the company's stock dropped to its lowest point in nearly three years after it raised new concerns about its accounting. Analysts said the new questions appeared to go to the heart of its financial performance. And soon after, the company disclosed that the SEC had upgraded its inquiry to a formal investigation.
In early April, Mills cut 70 jobs, bringing to more than 160 the total jobs eliminated this year. The company also said it arranged $625 million in new financing and cut its dividend, and it said its banks agreed to waive defaults through this year. Analysts said that could give the company more bargaining power in negotiating a sale.

Chairman and CEO: Laurence C. Siegel

2005 Financial Data