USA Today reported that Westfield, which owns malls stretching from Palm Desert, California, to Paramus, New Jersey, is being bought by a European shopping-center company at a time when malls are struggling to cope with intense competition from online shopping.
Purchaser Unibail-Rodamco said that its $15.7-billion purchase of the U.S.- and U.K.-focused Westfield will create a collection of 104 properties that spans 13 countries and draws 1.2 billion visits a year.
Garden State Plaza, the biggest shopping center in New Jersey, is among the U.S. malls currently owned by the Sydney, Australia-based Westfield. It would become part of the Unibail-Rodamco family. Some other Westfield properties that would come under new ownership include the Palm Desert in Palm Desert, California, the Galleria at Roseville near Sacramento, California and the Countryside in Clearwater, Florida.
The pending deal comes at a time when traditional malls are having to reinvent themselves. Malls have begun to offer unique attractions and experiences to draw visitors as one-time anchors like Sears and J.C. Penney close stores and struggle to compete with Amazon and other e-commerce sellers.