Shopping center operator Intu’s planned equity raise falls through

(Reuters) – Britain’s Intu said on Wednesday it was unable to go ahead with a planned equity raise as uncertainties in equity and retail property markets prevented investors from committing capital into the debt-laden mall operator.

The owner of Manchester’s Trafford Centre was planning a cash call of between 1 billion pounds and 1.5 billion pounds ($1.92 billion) by the end of February to shore up its balance sheet after being hit by a spate of high-profile failures in the retail industry.

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)