CHICAGO-General Growth Properties Inc. will emerge from Chapter11 restructuring early next month. With the company’s plan ofreorganization confirmed by Judge Allan Gropper of the U.S.Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, GGP hasbecome one of the few REITs to emerge from bankruptcy, andcertainly the largest one to do so.

“From a purely technical point of view, GGP is a greatillustration of why bankruptcy works,” says a source close to thetransaction. “For the right kind of situation, bankruptcy is theonly way to protect everyone’s interests.”

GGP will emerge from its financial restructuring with a strongbalance sheet and substantially less debt, having secured $6.8billion in equity commitments from Brookfield Asset Management,Fairholme Funds, Pershing Square Capital Management, Blackstone andThe Teacher Retirement System of Texas. GGP has also successfullyand consensually restructured approximately $15 billion inproject-level debt, renegotiating terms and extending maturitydates.