Simon Property Group Inc., the largest U.S. mall owner, isn’t trying to acquire competitor General Growth Properties Inc., Simon’s finance chief said.

“We have no interest in General Growth,” Stephen Sterrett, chief financial officer of Indianapolis-based Simon, said at a conference hosted by Barclays Plc’s investment-banking unit that was broadcast over the Internet Tuesday.

Sterrett’s comments were the first a Simon Property official has made about General Growth since investor Bill Ackman, on Aug. 23, urged the Chicago-based company to consider a sale. Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, said at the time that Simon had shown interest in a proposal to buy General Growth.