Mall Giant Westfield Acquired By French Real Estate Company In $16B Deal

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Westfield Corp., which operates malls in the Los Angeles area, around the nation and in Britain, is being sold to French commercial real estate giant Unibail-Rodamco in a $16 billion deal, the two companies announced Tuesday.

The cash-and-stock deal values shares of Australia-based Westfield at $7.55 a share, an 18 percent premium over Monday's closing price, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Westfield has 16 California locations include its Century City shopping center, which recently completed a $1 billion makeover. The company also owns Westfield Culver City, Westfield Topanga, Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, Westfield Valencia Town Center in Santa Clarita, as well as Westfield Mission Valley, Westfield Horton Plaza and Westfield UTC malls in San Diego.

The deal makes it possible for Unibail-Rodamco, Europe's largest publicly traded commercial real estate company, to expand into "new attractive real estate markets," including London and wealthy areas of the U.S., Christophe Cuvillier, chief executive of Unibail-Rodamco, said in a statement.

Unibail-Rodamco owns and operates 69 shopping centers in Europe including in Paris, Madrid, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Munich. The company also is developing malls in Brussels and Hamburg, Germany, according to The Times.

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