Unibail-Rodamco to buy out Westfield Corp. for $15.7bn

Unibail-Rodamco has agreed to pay $15.7 billion to take over Westfield Corp., the operator of the World Trade Center mall in Lower Manhattan, Garden State Plaza in Northern New Jersey and several upscale shopping centers in London. The merger combines two of the biggest mall operators in the world and will see Frank Lowy, the chairman of Westfield, retire as part of the deal, while his sons Peter and Steven will resign as the company’s co-chief executives. Chief Executive Christophe Cuviller will lead the new company which will be based in Paris and operates malls in Western and Central Europe. Some of its holdings include the Forum des Halles and the Les 4 Temps malls in Paris as well as the Gropius in Berlin. The move for Westfield gives Unibail access to the London market.