Australian property giant Westfield Group has announced that it had sold off major stakes in seven of its US shopping malls in a deal worth $1.6 bn.
Starwood Capital Group has agreed to buy 90 per cent of each other malls, which are located in Ohio, California, Washington State and Indiana. Westfield will maintain a 10 per cent stake in each property.
The property group has been in the process of selling of some of its less profitable assets to help fund new developments, which include a retail wing of New York‘s World Trade Center and the expansion of the Century City mall in Los Angeles.
Last month, Westfield announced an increase in group sales of 4.5 per cent across its two London malls and remains in the early stages of planning for a third London site in Croydon.
In a statement on Monday, Westfield‘s joint chief executive officer Peter Lowy said the company was “focused on redeploying our capital into superior retail destinations in major cities.”
