The company is looking to sell real estate to assist in recovering from the financial turmoil caused by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
The shopping centre owner plans to massively scale back its presence in the U.S. and complete a remaining $3.9bn European asset disposal before the end of 2022. Jean-Marie Tritant was recently appointed Chief Executive but previously ran URW’s U.S. business. He took on the new role after a group of investors won shareholder support for putting a greater focus on the European market.
Tritant comments: “At the end of the day, the exposure to the US will be minimal, if not zero.”
Whilst the goal is to reduce presence in the US, Tritant states that Unbail-Rodamco-Westfield remains 100 per cent committed to keeping its two London Westfield locations, as these are considered as two of the company’s most valuable assets.
