This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
SHOPPING mall owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has bought a 38.9% stake in its Germany vehicle from joint venture partner, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
The acquisition increases URW’s stake in URW Germany to 89.9%. Both partners retain the option to transfer the remaining 10.1% of CPP Investments’ interest to URW in 2025 for a cash consideration of up to €65 million.
URWG owns five shopping centres in Germany: Minto (Mönchengladbach), Höfe am Brühl (Leipzig), Palais Vest (Recklinghausen), a 50% share in Paunsdorf Center (Leipzig), and a 20% share in Gropius Passagen (Berlin).
URWG also holds €416 million in cash, including the €238 million net cash proceeds from the recent sale of Pasing Arcaden (Munich), as well as the fee business activity for third-party assets in Germany.
This acquisition is financed through the issuance of 3.254 million new URW stapled shares, representing approximately 2.2% of URW’s post-execution fully diluted share capital. These shares will be provided to CPP Investments as consideration for their contribution in kind of the 38.9% stake in URWG.
This transaction does not affect other joint ventures and co-investments between CPP Investments and URW, including Westfield Stratford City, Westfield Centro and some assets in the US.
