Simon Properties Gives Shareholders a Nice Christmas Present  It
appears that Friday the 13th was a lucky day for shareholders of
mall landlord Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG  ) . Simon is the
largest publically traded REIT in the U.S., with ownership
interests in 325 properties comprising about 242 million square
feet. On the 20th anniversary of becoming a publicly traded
company, CEO David Simon announced that the company plans to
spin off to existing shareholders 44 smaller malls and all 54
Simon strip and open-air power centers into SpinCo.  How does
SpinCo benefit shareholders?    1. The spin-off is structured to
be a tax free distribution to Simon shareholders.   2. SpinCo is
estimated to generate $0.80 per share in FFO, which will allow
for a $0.50 dividend. This is in addition to the current Simon
dividend of $4.80 per share, which will not be reduced.   3.
SpinCo will have independent management focused solely on
organic growth of these properties, as well as redevelopment,
acquisitions, and new dev