Mall operator to exit U.S. market

Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has plans to sell its 28 U.S. malls by 2022, so the firm can focus on operating in Europe.

According to an official statement, the firm will implement a sales program in 2021 and 2022 to significantly reduce its financial exposure to the United States when the investment market reopens, which should happen with the expected U.S. economy rebound in 2022. The firm’s strong position allows it to do these disposals over time and in an orderly fashion.

In 2020, URW’s gross U.S. rental income fell 16.1 percent, and its net income from U.S. shopping centers fell 29.2 percent.

As a key part of the deleveraging plans, URW also has reduced its development pipeline to €4.4 billion ($5.3 billion), down from €8.3 billion ($10.0 billion) as of Dec. 31, 2019. Committed projects amount to €2.9 billion ($3.5 billion), of which €1.7 billion ($2.1 billion) are already invested, leaving only €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) left