Lowy: No plan B for takeover

WESTFIELD joint chief executive Peter Lowy insists its board and the Lowy family remain committed to the shopping centre group’s $33 billion takeover by Unibail-Rodamco.

Speaking after Westfield unveiled its full-year results yesterday, Mr Lowy said he was confident the deal would proceed despite sharemarket volatility hitting valuations.

“There is no Plan B. We are committed to this transaction,” he said.

“From the family and company’s point of view, there has been no change in the strategic rationale that we put out in December, on why we are strongly recommending it.”

His comments follow speculation in recent weeks that the deal could be in jeopardy after currency volatility and a drop in the value of Unibail’s share price effectively cut the value for investors in Westfield.

Under the buyout deal announced in December, Westfield securityholders will receive $US2.67 in cash and 0.01844 securities in Parisbased Unibail for each Westfield share.

In response to a query from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the French property titan said on Wednesday that it had no intention of changing the bid, but reserved the right to do so.

“We see no change in any of the bases of the transaction,” Mr Lowy said yesterday, responding to queries from analysts on a conference call.

“The documents will come out in April — there will be an independent expert’s report.

“The shareholders will then be able to evaluate that against where the transaction sits at the time.”

Westfield yesterday posted a net profit of $US1.55 billion ($1.99 billion) for the year to December — up 13.5 per cent from the previous year.