American commercial real estate company Simon Property Group has raised its takeover bid for rival mall owner Macerich Co. to about $16.8 billion. The company has also termed it as the final offer. Indianapolis-headquartered Simon Property is the biggest mall owner in the country. On Friday, the company released a statement where it said that it offered $95.50 a share, up from $91 on March 9.

Both Simon and Macerich have a significant presence in Philadelphia. Simon has about nine areas malls, which include King of Prussia, Philadelphia Mills, and Oxford Valley. As per reports, Macerich will invest over $100 million in the redevelopment of the Gallery at Market East.

Simon will have a meeting with Macerich to negotiate terms of a deal by April 1. If the company does not meet Macerich then the latest offer will be withdrawn. Simon Property Group has made multiple attempts to discuss the deal, but Macerich refused to have a meeting.

In a statement, Simon chief executive officer David Simon said, "We believe our offer is compelling and will deliver significant and immediate value to Macerich shareholders. We encourage the Macerich board to give our proposal the serious consideration it deserves and to take into account the views of Macerich shareholders".

Recently, Santa Monica-headquartered Macerich tried to stop the takeover. In a recently released statement, the company said that it received new takeover bid from Simon and its board has now decided to review the offer with the company's legal and financial advisers.

Jeffrey Langbaum, a REIT analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said that the ball is in Macerich's court. Now, the company has to decide whether there should be further talks, or it should say 'no' to Simon by saying that the offer is not high enough.