SYDNEY: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) today has acquired a 38.9% stake in URW Germany GmbH (URWG) and its related entities from its joint venture partner Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
(CPP).
The acquisition is an off-market transaction, in the context of an existing shareholders’ agreement and increases URW’s stake in URWG to 89.9%.
Both partners retain the option to transfer the remaining 10.1% of CPP Investments’ interest to URW in 2025 for a cash consideration of up to €65 Mn.
This acquisition is financed through the issuance of 3.254 million new URW stapled shares, representing
approximately 2.2% of URW’s post-execution fully diluted share capital.
These shares will be provided to CPP Investments as consideration for their contribution in kind of the 38.9% stake in URWG.
URWG owns five shopping centres in Germany: Minto (Mönchengladbach), Höfe am Brühl (Leipzig), Palais Vest (Recklinghausen), a 50% share in Paunsdorf Center (Leipzig), and a 20% share in Gropius Passagen (Berlin).
URWG also holds €416 Mn in cash, including the €238 Mn net cash proceeds from the recent sale of Pasing Arcaden (Munich), as well as the fee business activity for third-party assets in Germany.