Westfield enters trading halt with significant announcement due this Thursday
Australian shopping center company Westfield Corp on Tuesday has entered a trading halt for its shares on the Australian Securities Exchange this morning ahead of an announcement on a potential transaction.
The company said it was in discussions with unnamed parties for a “potentially significant corporate transaction”, without divulging further information.
Westfield said it expects to make a related announcement on Thursday.
The early speculation is that the $17 billion company, whose major shareholders include the Lowy family, may be selling some of its non flagship centres.
Or undertaking a tilt at US mall owner GGP or looking to demerge its North American assets, or thinking of a merger of its real estate interests in France.
By early afternoon there was speculation Westfield was set to be taken over by a European shopping centre giant in a takeover deal said to be worth $32.7 billion.
Unibail-Rodamco will take over the ASX-listed company to create a global property giant with 104 malls in 27 retail markets around the world.
Unibail-Rodamco is the largest listed commercial real estate company in Europe and the second-largest globally by value.