News In Brief

The Fox television network has bid about $2.5 billion in an attempt to grab the rights to Major League Baseball's entire postseason package from 2001 to 2006, sources in the TV industry and pro baseball said. The offer also covers an extension of current deals for regular-season games on Fox and its cable outlets. NBC and ESPN, which hold rights to some postseason games under five-year contracts that expire after next month's World Series, had a narrow window of time to match Fox's bid. ESPN's $800 million, six-year package for regular-season telecasts, which began in April, is not affected.

Urban Shopping Centers Inc., which owns such upscale malls as Chicago's Water Tower Place, the Galleria in Houston, and Copley Place in Boston, agreed to be acquired by Dutch counterpart Rodamco North America. The $3.4 billion all-cash deal will more than double Rodamco's holdings to 36 in 15 states, making it the third-largest operator of malls in the US. Urban Shopping Centers is based in Chicago; Rodamco in Amsterdam.

A $1.4 billion deal was announced by Security Capital Group Inc. to buy SC-U.S. Realty. The acquisition was expected to simplify the relationship between the two companies. SC-U.S. Realty, which has offices in Luxembourg, London, and Chicago, owns stakes in six US real estate investment trusts. Security Capital, based in Santa Fe, N.M., has interests in 16 real estate operating companies.

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