Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a European commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail (founded in France in 1968) and Rodamco Europe (founded in the Netherlands in 1999), which merged in 2007 and became a societas Europaea in 2009. The company acquired Australian shopping centre operator Westfield Corporation in June 2018.

Not to be confused with Westfield Group, Westfield Corporation, or Scentre Group.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE
TypeSocietas Europaea
IndustryCommercial real estate
Genre
Founded27 June 2007 (2007-06-27)
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Key people
Revenue€5.4 billion
€1.1 billion
Total assets€65.3 billion
Number of employees
3700
Websiteurw.com

As of 2018, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is the largest commercial real estate company in Europe,[1] and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.[2] Its portfolio consists of retail property, office buildings, and convention centers within Europe and North America.[2] Many of its shopping centres use the Westfield brand launched by Westfield Group in 1960 and shared with Scentre Group for properties in Australia and New Zealand since 2014. Retail properties owned by Unibail-Rodamco before the merger will carry the Westfield name.[3]

History

Background

Unibail was founded in 1968 as a finance-leasing unit by a company called Worms & Cie. In 1991, Unibail started focusing on the property investment sector, and phased out involvement in lease financing. It built a property portfolio of close to 30 shopping centres across France – including the Forum des Halles and the arcade within CNIT – and substantial office properties in Paris and La Défense – including the Tour Ariane and the Paris Expo group of convention centres.[4][5] Rodamco Europe formed in 1999 when Rodamco, a property investment fund set up by the Dutch asset management group Robeco in 1979, broke up into various independent listed companies covering different parts of the world. Rodamco Europe subsequently collected a portfolio primarily consisting of shopping centres and other retail spaces across 14 European countries, along with some office property in France and the Netherlands, acquiring smaller European rivals in the process.[6]

2007–2017: Unibail-Rodamco
Unibail-Rodamco logo, used until 2018

On April 10, 2007, Rodamco Europe announced an agreement to conduct a merger of equals[7] with Unibail to create the largest publicly traded property company in Europe.[8] The merger was confirmed on June 21, 2007, after Unibail announced the acquisition of 80% of Rodamco's shares, making its offer for the remainder unconditional.[9] The merged entity took effect as a société anonyme under the new name Unibail-Rodamco on June 25, 2007.[10]

On June 1, 2011, Unibail-Rodamco hired former FNAC CEO Christophe Cuvillier as the new COO. In collaboration with CEO and Chairman of the Board Guillaume Poitrinal, he led the company to five years of growth in spite of tough economic conditions.[11]

In May 2015, Unibail revealed it had signed an agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to sell its 46.1% stake in German shopping mall operator MFI AG for €394 million.[12]

2018–present: Acquisition of Westfield
Westfield logo, in use from 1960 to present

In December 2017, Unibail took over Westfield Corporation, which operates 35 shopping centres in the US and the UK, for a reported price of US$24.8 billion. The Australian shopping centres branded as Westfield and held by Scentre were not acquired by Unibail.[13] The deal was completed in June 2018, and the shopping centres owned by Unibail-Rodamco before the merger had their names modified to have the Westfield brand, with 10 flagships starting in September 2019.[14]

2020 - In November 2020, Colin Dyer resigned as supervisory-board chairman following a shareholder meeting that rejected a plan put forward by the board to raise capital of 3.5 billion euros ($4.15 billion). Dyer remains on the board but has been replaced as chairman by former Unibail CEO, Leon Bressler. Bressler is also part of a consortium of shareholders and investors who had opposed the capital increase and other proposed strategies. [15]

Corporate affairs

Management
  • Christophe Cuvillier – Group Chief Executive Officer
  • Jaap L. Tonckens – Group Chief Financial Officer
  • Astrid Panoysan – Group Chief Resources Officer
  • Olivier Bossard – Group Chief Development Officer
  • Jean-Marie Tritant – Chief Operating Officer (transitional until January 1st, 2021)
  • Domenic Lowe – Chief operating officer U.S.
  • Michel Dessolain – Chief Operating Officer (Europe)
  • Peter Miller – Chief Operating Officer (UK, Italy, Benelux)
  • Fabrice Mouchel – Chief Financial Officer (Europe)
  • Gerard Sieben – Chief Financial Officer (WFD Unibail-Rodamco N.V.)

On November 19th, 2020, it was announced that Jean-Marie Tritant would take over as group CEO and management-board chairman as of January 1st, 2021. Tritant has left his previous position URW's operations in the U.S immediately. He will act as the group's chief operating officer during a transition phase that began on November 19th. [16]

Shareholders

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has a 100% free float; no shareholder holds more than 10% of the share capital.[17] The following represents the shareholder structure as of May 11, 2020:[18]

Indexes

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is listed in several indexes, including:[19]

  • FTSE4Good (since 2008)
  • Dow Jones Sustainability Index (World since 2008 and Europe since 2010)
  • Advanced Sustainability Performance Eurozone Index (since 2010)
  • Ethibel Sustainability Index (since 2011)
  • ECPI Index (since 2011)
  • STOXX Global ESG Leaders Index (since 2011)
  • Standard Ethics French Index (since 2015)

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is rated A by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

In 2015, Standard Ethics Aei has given a rating to Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in order to include it in its Standard Ethics French Index.[20]

Assets
Centrum Chodov, the largest shopping mall in Prague, and owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Main article: List of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield properties

To conceive and design its buildings, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield works with high-end architectural firms like Thomas Mayne of Morphosis firm,[21] Herzog & de Meuron,[22] RIADH group (De La Hoz, Cottrell, Michelangeli), the firm Architecture Farshid Moussavi, Cuno & Jean Brullmann Crochon-Luc,[23] Jean-Paul Viguier,[24] Epstein & Glaiman / Recevki Architecture, Araldo Cossutta & Ponte, and Arte-Charpentier.

References
  1. "Europe: Largest Real Estate Companies 2018". Statista. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  2. "The Group At A Glance". Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  3. Danziger, Pamela (December 19, 2017). "Will Unibail-Rodamco Give Westfield Malls A European Makeover". Forbes. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  4. Unibail-Rodamco. "Unibail Historical Data". Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  5. Unibail-Rodamco. "List of properties". Archived from the original on 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  6. Rodamco Europe. "History". Archived from the original on 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  7. Rodamco Europe. "Rodamco and Unibail merger". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  8. "Unibail, Rodamco to create European property leader". Reuters. April 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  9. "Unibail secures merger with Rodamco Europe". Reuters. June 21, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  10. "Amsterdam shares close slightly lower; Hagemeyer carries the day". AFX News. June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  11. "Unibail-Rodamco SE". Bloomberg. March 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  12. James Regan (15 May 2015). "Unibail sells German mall operator stake to Canada's CPPIB". Reuters. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  13. Thakur Mahrotri, Pooja; Burgess, Matthew (12 December 2017). "Unibail Buys Westfield for $16 Billion as Mall Owners Merge". Bloomberg. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  14. "Westfield expands to mainland Europe via shopping centre rebrands". retailgazette.co.uk. 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  15. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/unibail-rodamco-westfield-appoints-new-ceo-2020-11-19-24851145
  16. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/unibail-rodamco-westfield-appoints-new-ceo-2020-11-19-24851145
  17. UNIBAIL-RODAMCO (UL), 4-traders.com
  18. Shareholding Structure as of May 11, 2020, Unibail official Website / Shareholders, May 11, 2020
  19. Sustainability, awards and ratings, Unibail-rodamco.com
  20. http://www.standardethicsindices.eu/standard-ethics-french-index.html
  21. Le Phare (The Lighthouse), Paris, France, Designbuild-network.com
  22. Joseph Ayoub, Tour Triangle, Whitezine, 7 June 2012
  23. Towers, buildings and consultations in La Défense, Nxtbook.fr
  24. Lyon Confluence / Jean-Paul Viguier et Associes, Arch Daily, 8 June 2012
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