An agreement has been set out by European commercial property company, Unibail-Rodamco, to add 35 shopping centres to its portfolio, gaining from Westfield’s extensive number of locations, including Westfield Stratford City and Westfield London, as well as Croydon’s Westfield, which is in the pipeline.

With consumers favouring destination shopping locations which appeal to shoppers’ desire for a social and lifestyle experience and Westfield setting the bar in terms of focus on overall experience, this is a beneficial move for Unibail-Rodamco. Like the Hammerson-Intu deal announced last week, the takeover will enable Unibail-Rodamco to benefit from cost savings but more importantly, it will allow the company to strengthen its position in the global retail market and gain insights into global shopping trends.

With Westfield Stratford City and Westfield London the top two supermalls in the UK, in terms of retail sales, according to GlobalData’s estimates, Unibail-Rodamco will also benefit from the growth in the UK supermalls market which is forecast to rise 7.2 per cent over the next five years, reaching £12.3bn in 2022.