Damon Mcknight
Westfield Group, an Australian commercial real estate company, was founded in 1959 in the western suburbs of Sydney. The company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 and expanded into the United States in 1977. Westfield Group has interests in and operates a portfolio of shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. In 2014, the Westfield Group restructured, with its Australian and New Zealand businesses becoming the Scentre Group, and its international business becoming the Westfield Corporation. The Westfield Corporation was acquired by Unibail-Rodamco in 2018, forming Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Founding | Sydney, Australia, 1959 |
| Founders | Frank Lowy, John Saunders |
| Ownership | Controlled by the Lowy Family Group |
| Listing | Australian Stock Exchange |
| Business | Retail property group |
| Business segments | Property investments, Property and project management, and Development |
| Business interests | 119 regional shopping centres in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom |
| Retail outlets | 24,000 |
| Assets under management | $63 billion |
| Centres in the US | 16 |
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What You'll Learn
Westfield Group's origins and history
The Westfield Group is an Australian commercial real estate company and operator of shopping centres. The company was founded in the western suburbs of Sydney in 1959 by Frank Lowy and John Saunders. The name "Westfield" is derived from "west", referring to the company's West Sydney location, and "field", as it was located on subdivided farmland. The Westfield Group's first development, Westfield Place (or Westfield Plaza), opened in July 1959 in Blacktown, Sydney, with 12 shops, 2 department stores, and a supermarket. By the end of the year, Westfield Plaza had become Blacktown's commercial hub.
In 1960, the company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), and it expanded into Victoria and Queensland in 1966-67. Over the next two decades, Westfield continued to expand across Australia, building another five centres in New South Wales. In 1977, the company entered the United States market with the purchase of the Trumbull Shopping Park in Connecticut. In 1980, Westfield opened three centres in California, Michigan, and Connecticut, followed by three more centres in California, New Jersey, and Long Island, New York, in 1986.
In the 1990s, Westfield began a major expansion into New Zealand, acquiring existing shopping centres and progressively rebranding them. The company also continued to grow its portfolio in the United States, collaborating with General Growth and Whitehall Real Estate to purchase 19 centres for US$1 billion in 1994. By 2005, Westfield owned centres in 15 US states.
In 2004, the Westfield Group was restructured, and the Australian and New Zealand businesses became the Scentre Group, while the international business, initially focusing on the US, UK, and Europe, became the Westfield Corporation. Westfield continued to expand its global presence, entering the Brazilian market in 2011 and acquiring additional properties in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia.
In December 2017, Westfield accepted a $32.8 billion takeover offer from Unibail-Rodamco, excluding Westfield Labs. The takeover was completed in June 2018, and the parent company was renamed Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
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Westfield's expansion into the US
Westfield Group, an Australian shopping centre company, expanded into the United States in 1977. The company's expansion strategy involved purchasing existing shopping centres and clusters of centres in particular cities or within a small number of states.
The first acquisition in the US was the Trumbull Shopping Park in Connecticut in 1977. This was followed by three centres in California, Michigan, and Connecticut in 1980. In 1986, Westfield Group expanded into New York, opening three centres in California, New Jersey, and Long Island. By 1994, the company had joined forces with General Growth and Whitehall Real Estate to purchase 19 centres for US$1 billion.
The company continued to build considerable holdings on the East Coast and in California before expanding into the Midwest. By 2005, Westfield Group had a presence in 15 US states. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Westfield had agreed to acquire 15 stores from Federated Department Stores, mostly in southern California. However, the company also sold eight US shopping centres to Centro Properties Group in the same year.
As of 2024, Westfield owned 16 malls in the United States. The company's US assets were valued at over $28.5 billion, encompassing around 7,500 retail outlets.
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Westfield's presence in New Zealand
Westfield Group is an Australian commercial real estate company and operator of shopping centres. The company was founded in Australia and had its original premises in Blacktown, Sydney. Westfield Group is strongly controlled by the Lowy Family Group, including non-executive chairman, Frank Lowy, one of its founders.
Westfield Group has a significant presence in New Zealand. The company entered the New Zealand market in 1997 and acquired an interest in the St Lukes Group portfolio in 1998. Westfield malls quickly became the most numerous chain in New Zealand, with six of its 12 centres in Auckland, including their largest development in Albany. Westfield has NZ$2.8 billion in assets under management in New Zealand.
In the 1990s, Westfield began a major expansion in New Zealand, where they mostly bought existing shopping centres from the Fletchers company and progressively rebranded them. In 2007, the company opened a new centre in the country, Westfield Albany. Westfield malls offer a range of shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences to customers in New Zealand.
Westfield Group has a global presence with interests in and operations in one of the world's largest shopping centre portfolios. The company has investment interests in 103 shopping centres across Australia, the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, France, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Brazil. Westfield Group undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities.
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Westfield's Australian portfolio
Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014. It was an internally managed, vertically integrated shopping centre group that undertook ownership, development, design, construction, funds and asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities. Westfield Group had interests in and operated one of the world's largest shopping centre portfolios, with investment interests in 103 shopping centres across Australia, the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, France, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Brazil.
In 2010, the Westfield Group split 50% of its Australian and New Zealand assets into the Westfield Retail Trust, trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as WRT. This trust was later folded into the Scentre Group during the 2014 split, when the Westfield Group divided into two independent companies: the Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio, and the Westfield Corporation, which owns and operates the American and European centre portfolio.
In addition to its physical shopping centres, Westfield Australia also offers various services and initiatives. These include ticketless parking at select locations, where shoppers received SMS alerts when their free parking time was expiring or when they were leaving the centre. However, this feature was removed in 2016 due to privacy concerns. Westfield Australia also has a commitment to sustainability and has collaborated with indigenous artist Mali Isabel to support Country Needs People with new Westfield Gift Card packaging.
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Westfield's founders and owners
Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014. It was founded by Frank P. Lowy and Vale John Saunders in July 2004 and was headquartered in Sydney, Australia. The company was strongly controlled by the Lowy Family Group, including non-executive chairman and founder Frank Lowy, and his two younger sons, Steven and Peter, who were joint managing directors.
The company's first development was named "Westfield Place" and opened in July 1959 in Blacktown, Sydney. The name "Westfield" is derived from "west", related to the West Sydney location, and "field", as it was located on subdivided farmland. Over the next 30 years, Lowy and Saunders developed several Westfield shopping centres across Australia and the USA. In 1987, Saunders sold his interests, favouring Lowy. In 1990, Lowy took Westfield to New Zealand, and in 2000 to the UK.
In 2014, the Westfield Group split 50% of its Australian and New Zealand assets into the Westfield Retail Trust, trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as WRT. The trust was folded into the Scentre Group during the 2014 split. The other 50% of the company's assets in the United Kingdom and the United States formed the Westfield Corporation. In December 2017, the Westfield Board announced that it was recommending a takeover of the company by Unibail-Rodamco, one of the largest real estate companies in Europe, for a reported USD 24.8 billion. The takeover was completed, and the parent company was renamed Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, in June 2018.
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Frequently asked questions
The Westfield Group was founded in Australia and is headquartered in Sydney. However, in 2017, it accepted a $32.8 billion takeover offer from Unibail-Rodamco, a European company, and was subsequently renamed Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
The Westfield Group was founded in 1959 in the western suburbs of Sydney by Frank Lowy and John Saunders. The company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 and expanded throughout Australia before entering the US market in 1977. Over the years, Westfield continued to grow and expand internationally, becoming one of the world's largest shopping centre portfolios.
Westfield is a vertically integrated shopping centre group that manages various aspects of shopping centre development, including design, construction, leasing, management, and marketing. The company operates through different segments: Property Investment, Property and Project Management, and Development.
As of 2024, Westfield owned and operated a portfolio of 119 regional shopping centres across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with almost 24,000 retailers and more than 10 million square meters of retail space.
