The pre-Christmas consolidation of the shopping centre sector has continued today with France’s Unibail-Rodamco agreeing to buy Australia’s Westfield Group (ASX:WDC) for US$24.7bn including debt.
Westfield, which owns and operates 35 shopping centres in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, said the transaction was “highly compelling” for Westfield and Unibail-Rodamco’s shareholders.
READ: Shopping centre owner Hammerson to buy rival Intu Properties in all-share deal
The deal - which would be the biggest takeover of an Australian company on record - accelerates consolidation amid the global retail property sector after last week’s $3.4bn all-share takeover proposal by UK blue chip firm Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) for rival FTSE 100 listed real estate investment trust Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTU).
Hammerson owns a number of shopping centres in the UK, including London's Brent Cross and CabotCircus in Bristol, along with properties in Ireland and France. Intu owns shopping centres across the UK including Manchester’s Trafford Centre.
It also comes hot on the heels of the rejection by the world’s second biggest retail real estate investment trust,GGP Inc. (NYSE:GGP) of a US$14.8bn offer from Brookfield Property for the two-thirds of the US company it does not already own.