Westfield sale an end to Lowy era
WESTFIELD Corporation shareholders have voted in favour of a $33 billion takeover by Paris property giant Unibail-Rodamco, marking the end of an era for the Lowy family.
Founder and chairman Frank Lowy urged shareholders to vote for the deal at a meeting on Thursday, describing the takeover as “highly compelling”. The deal, which was announced in December and marks the retirement of Mr Lowy as Westfield chairman, was overwhelmingly supported by Unibail shareholders at a meeting last week, and backed by the Lowy family and Westfield directors. “All shareholders in the new group will benefit from economic exposure to a much larger and geographically diverse portfolio than they have today,” Mr Lowy said at the meeting.
“I believe that the strategic positioning of the new group is unique and that it will play a major role in the ongoing evolution of the retail industry.” Westfield was established in Sydney’s west and listed on the share market in 1960, before growing rapidly under the control of Frank Lowy, who was chief executive for 50 years before handing over to his sons Steven and Peter in 2011. The Lowy family’s stake in Westfield is valued at just over $3 billion. Unibail-Rodamco is the largest commercial landlord in Europe with interests in shopping centres, offices and exhibition centres.
The newly created company will have assets worth 61 billion euros ($A95 billion), with 104 shopping centres in 13 countries, all of which will carry the Westfield branding.
Westfield’s shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand will remain under the control of Scentre Group, a separately listed entity.
Mr Lowy will chair a newly created advisory board for
Unibail.
Peter Lowy will be one of two Westfield board members appointed to the supervisory board of Unibail, while Steven Lowy will chair a retail technology company that is being spun out of Westfield.
Westfield will be delisted from the Australian share market, and Unibail will have a secondary listing in Australia, alongside its stapled securities listed in Amsterdam and Paris.