REAL ESTATE

Zell Group Makes 3rd Bid to Buy Rockefeller Center: The group led by Chicago investor Sam Zell and backed by General Electric Co. and Walt Disney Co. made a $1.16-billion offer to buy the mortgage on the debt-laden Manhattan landmark. The group had suggested earlier this month that it might make such an offer to counter a rival bid for the 12-building office and retail complex. Two of the Zell bids largely match proposals put forward by its strongest competitors. The new proposal counters a bid by a group that includes heavyweights such as Goldman, Sachs & Co., David Rockefeller and Tishman Speyer Properties. Rockefeller Center Properties Inc., the mortgage holder, said it would have no immediate response to the latest Zell offer. Rockefeller Center Properties is scheduled to take over the property from its bankrupt owners and will decide who ultimately gets control of the complex.