Unibail-Rodamco completes the acquisition of Westfield
Unibail-Rodamco has completed the acquisition of Westfield.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield combines two of the strongest and most respected names in the real estate industry to build on their legacies.
With a portfolio valued at €62 billion, of which 88 percent is in retail, seven percent in offices and six percent in convention and exhibition venues.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield owns and operates 102 shopping centres in 13 countries, of which 56 are flagships in the most dynamic cities in Europe and in the United States.
Its centres welcome 1.2 billion visits per year.
The $32 billion takeover of Frank Lowy's retail landlord giant Westfield only ever faced mooted opposition.
Under the headline, Macquarie Capital buddies up to Unibail-Rodamco, the Australian Financial Review fleetingly noted that Macquarie Capital was the latest investment bank to pick up consultancy fees in Australia's biggest ever takeover.
After Unibail-Rodamco's $32 billion cash and scrip bid for Westfield Group, sources told the AFR's Street Talk said the Paris-headquartered Unibail "hauled in" Macquarie's bankers to help with elements of the "deal execution", helping Unibail manage its foreign currency risk.
Macquarie was the latest in a long list of banks to secure a place on Unibail's side of the deal ticket.
A byproduct of Macquarie's role was that its real estate research analysts, spearheaded by Rob Freeman, were placed on restriction effective mid-takeover consideration.
Macquarie Equity's team equities research team was one of the few that initially did not hold back.
Macquarie noted while the transaction had strategic merit, but needed financial merit.
"We do not believe the current terms are compelling enough for WFD unitholders," it fleetingly suggested before the clamp came.
Unibail initial terms were handing over cash worth $US5.6 billion to Westfield securityholders, as well as 38.7 million of its own shares.
Taking into account exchange rates and share price movements, the pocketed offer was less than the $10.01 when the deal was announced in December.
