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Westfield Shopping Centres Bought in $25bn Deal

The owner of Westfield shopping centres is being bought for $24.7bn (£18.5bn) in a deal that will see the malls launched in new markets. Australia’s Westfield Corporation has agreed to be sold to French property group Unibail-Rodamco – there are 35 Westfield shopping centres in the UK and the US, while Unibail-Rodamco has 71 sites in Europe.

Speaking at a news conference in Sydney, Westfield chairman Sir Frank Lowy who co-founded Westfield in the 1950s (and who will retire as chairman of Westfield after the completion of the deal) said “the sale to Unibail-Rodamco would create the leading shopping centre company in the world”.

Christophe Cuvillier, chief executive of Unibail-Rodamco, said the acquisition of Westfield “adds a number of new attractive retail markets in London and the wealthiest catchment areas in the United States” and added that the deal would allow it to cut advertising and marketing costs.

We understand that Unibail-Rodamco intends to roll-out the recognisable Westfield brand across its flagship shopping centres in areas such as Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and Warsaw (and dispense with some of its smaller shopping centres). This could create a big opportunity for Ocean Outdoor who currently work with Westfield in the UK with its advertising network.