Westfield Corporation has announced that the Schemes of Arrangement for the acquisition of Westfield by Unibail-Rodamco have become effective. This follows the receipt and lodgement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of orders of the Supreme Court of New South Wales approving the Schemes of Arrangement.
The acquisition is scheduled to be implemented on June 7, 2018.
Westfield Corp shareholders voted in favour of a $16 billion takeover by Unibail-Rodamco, the chairman of the Australian shopping mall confirmed last week.
The approval was the final hurdle for the takeover, which has already received the green signal from Unibail shareholders, boards of both companies, as well as Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
Chairman Frank Lowy, who also announced his retirement after 58 years with the company, said in a statement that the buyout was “supported by the vast majority of shareholders”.
He added that two Westfield directors, Peter Lowy and John McFarlane, would join the supervisory board of Unibail.
Unibail-Rodamco, Europe’s biggest property firm, and Westfield announced the deal in December, looking to create a global leader in the retail sector that is grappling with the online shopping challenges led by Amazon.
RPA Perspective Unibail-Rodamco CEO Christophe Cuvillier hailed the go-ahead to acquire Westfield as a “perfect fit” as he stressed the need for a “connected future” for mall operators.
Cuvillier’s view is that the two mall giants are well matched as they both have substantial investments in online and have attempted to become platforms for their tenants, rather than simply landlords.
He said that although many parts of the world do face severe competition from the number of centres, the key was to continue rotating retailers in order to ensure that the offer is fresh and to keep shoppers coming. He said that Unibail-Rodamco’s approach was to “aggressively ensure that 10% of the retailers rotate every year”, so that the proposition constantly changes.
Created in 1968, Unibail-Rodamco SE is Europe’s largest listed commercial property company, with a presence in 11 Continental European countries, and a portfolio of assets valued at €43.1bn as of December 31, 2017. As an integrated operator, investor and developer, the Group aims to cover the whole of the real estate value creation chain. With the support of its 2,000 professionals, Unibail-Rodamco applies those skills to highly specialised market segments such as large shopping centres in major European cities or large offices and Convention & Exhibition centres in the Paris region.
Westfield has unveiled futuristic designs to give customers a glimpse of how shopping centres could look in 10 years’ time.
It will soon be a decade since the retail giant opened in Shepherd's Bush and to mark the milestone, Westfield has taken a leap into the future to predict what visitors will want when they go to a shopping centre in 2028.
Artist impressions of the Westfield ‘Destination 2028’ concept show gardens being created in shopping centres and drones flying to deliver items to customers.
These designs have been been released after it was confirmed on Thursday that a huge John Lewis and Waitrose will be the anchor store of Westfield Croydon, with work on the super mall due to get underway in early 2019.
The Westfield 'Destination 2028' concept was created by a panel of experts, including a futurologist and people from the fashion and retail industry, looking at trends for what customers will want and expect when they go shopping.
Myf Ryan, chief marketing officer at Westfield UK and Europe, said: “As we celebrate 10 years of pioneering retail in London we’re already looking forward to the next decade. We’ll continue to work closely with brands to deliver innovative retail spaces that create the ideal environment for them and our visitors – including developing technologies that converge digital and physical shopping to enhance that 'extra-perience' in state-of-the-art surroundings.”