Westfield Directors have unanimously urged shareholders to approve a $30 billion takeover by French property behemoth Unibail-Rodamco. Despite the decreasing value of the offer, founding family Lowy has continued to provide its support.
Yesterday, the global shopping centre giant announced its security holders’ booklet for the takeover was approved by ASIC.
As previously reported, last month Dutch and French regulators approved Unibail-Rodamco’s prospectus for the bid.
Enclosed in the security holder’s booklet, Westfield Chairman Sir Frank Lowy affirms the merger would birth “one of the world’s premier developers and operators of flagship shopping destinations”.
After closing the deal, the Lowy family will own a 2.64% stake in a “new group” which would “own a portfolio of 102 assets”.
As per its ASIC lodgment, between December 12th – when the bid was launched – to April 10th, the takeover value has dropped from US$7.55 to US$6.98.
Westfield Directors, Peter Lowy and John McFarlane, are set to join Unibail-Rodamco’s supervisory board following the merger.
The property giant’s board has also unanimously agreed to support the spin-off of Steven Lowy’s ‘OneMarket’. The company features Westfield’s retail technology platform, and will list separately on the ASX.
Should the takeover go ahead, Westfield’s last trading day on the ASX will be May 30th.
