The Wall Street Journal-20080202-Inmobiliaria Colonial SA- GE-s Real-Estate Unit Decides Against Making Offer

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Inmobiliaria Colonial SA: GE's Real-Estate Unit Decides Against Making Offer

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The Spanish real-estate unit of General Electric Corp. said Friday that it decided not to make an offer for Inmobiliaria Colonial SA, lowering expectations of a bidding war for the troubled Spanish real- estate company. GE Real Estate Iberia said in a regulatory filing that it didn't reach an agreement on due-diligence terms with Colonial, Spain's second-largest real-estate company by asset value. The unit of Fairfield, Conn., based GE added it didn't have access to Colonial's books. Colonial declined to comment on GE's statement. The move comes a day after Colonial said it will open its books to Investment Corp. of Dubai, which has made an approach and would like to buy a controlling stake in the company. Colonial is also in talks with French real-estate company Gecina about a possible takeover. Spain's stock-market regulator suspended trading in Colonial shares just before the announcement.