Sydney/Melbourne/Paris — Europe’s biggest property firm Unibail-Rodamco is to buy global mall operator Westfield, in a defensive move to create a leader in a sector grappling with the online shopping challenge led by Amazon. The deal gives Europe-focused Unibail, which owns "Les 4 Temps" and "Forum des Halles" in Paris and has centres from Helsinki to Valencia, exposure to the US and Britain, where Westfield operates 35 malls, including landmark premises in London. Under its Australian billionaire chairman and co-founder Frank Lowy, Westfield has pioneered US mall redevelopment, introducing upscale food courts, high-end restaurants, bars, cinemas and boutique fashion outlets to entice shoppers. Talks to seal a deal had taken just six weeks, said Lowy whose family will no longer run the company he set up in 1960 but will end up with a 2.8% stake in the combined group. Lowy said it made sense to sell because Unibail offered a "very good price", but acknowledged that the sale partly re...
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