Westfield offloads shopping centers in $550m deal.The Westfield Group The Westfield Group is a multinational company that owns shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Westfield shopping centres are typically branded with the name Westfield or Westfield Shoppingtown in their name. announced that it has entered into agreements to divest eight US non-strategic assets, raising $550 million in separate transactions with Centro Properties Group and Somera Capital Management. "We have decided to divest ourselves of these non-strategic assets since they no longer fit within our investment criteria nor are they in our long-term redevelopment plans," said Group Managing Director Peter Lowy. "We are constantly reviewing our properties for opportunities to generate higher returns for our shareholders. The recycling of capital into higher returning developments is consistent with the Group's long-term strategy and these transactions are similar to the sales last year of non-strategic properties in the United Kingdom." The group has entered into a series of agreements with Centro for the sale of two centers and the contribution of an additional five centers to new investment vehicles managed and controlled by Centro, with Westfield retaining a minority limited partner interest in the investment vehicles of approximately 5%. The value of the seven centers to be transferred by Westfield reflects an initial cash yield of approximately 7%. Westfield will reinvest re·in·vest tr.v. re·in·vest·ed, re·in·vest·ing, re·in·vests To invest (capital or earnings) again, especially to invest (income from securities or funds) in additional shares. the proceeds in its redevelopment program where the company generates 9%-10% initial cash yields and 14% unleveraged internal rates of return. "We have a history of working well with Centro and are pleased that we were able to complete a transaction that is beneficial for both companies," said Lowy. The properties to he sold include the 720,000 s/f Enfield Square in Enfield, CT, and the Group has also agreed to sell Northwest Plaza Northwest Plaza is an enclosed shopping mall located in St. Ann, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The largest mall in the St. Louis area[2][3], Northwest Plaza comprises more than in St. Ann, Missouri St. Ann is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,607 at the 2000 census. Geography St. Ann is located at (38.727184, -90.385515)GR1. with a lettable area of 1,768,524 s/f to Somera Capital Management for $47 million. The carrying value Carrying Value Also know as "book value," it is a company's total assets minus intangible assets and liabilities, such as debt. Notes: This is different than market value, as it can be higher or lower depending on the circumstances. of Northwest Plaza as of 31 December 2005 was $41.6 million. The transactions are expected to close within 60 days. Westfield is the tenth-largest entity listed on the Australian Stock Exchange Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Australia's major securities market, formed when the six state stock exchanges (Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney stock exchanges) were merged in 1987. . It has interests in an investment portfolio of 128 shopping centers in Australia, the US, New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. and the UK worth over $39.5 billion. |
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