Mills Lays Off 70 Employees,
Including Head of Development
Mills Corp. fired about 70 employees, including its president of development, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It marks the second major layoff -- totaling 160 employees or more than 15% of the workforce -- for the troubled shopping-mall real-estate investment trust in three months.
The filing said the employment of Mr. Dausch, the company's longtime head of development, would be "terminated" effective May 2, but added Mills is negotiating to retain him as a consultant for its $1.2 billion Xanadu project in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Mr. Dausch will receive severance and incentive pay of about $1 million, according to the filing. He could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
Most of the layoffs come in Mills' development division, which has long been the core of the company, and will result in the company taking a $3 million charge for the first quarter. Mills has not reported its first quarter earnings and has not said when it will.
Richard J. Nadeau, who joined the company late last month, will "transition to the position of chief financial officer," according to the filing.
The layoffs bring the total number of workers fired at Mills in the last three months to 160, according to a company press release. More have been cut through attrition and the total savings will come to $35 million a year, to help position the company as it pursues a sale of all or part of itself, the company said. Mills "believes its workforce now is appropriate" in size, the company said.
Mills has been hit by a series of missteps in the last 14 months. It has restated its earnings twice, delayed three earnings reports and said it is reviewing several areas of its accounting. Since the beginning of the year, it has scrapped 10 development projects and the SEC has launched a formal investigation of the company.
Mills stock has plunged nearly 60% from its peak in August. Mills shares closed at $27.30 in 4 p.m. NYSE trading Wednesday, up 7 cents.
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