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Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

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Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE
TypePublic (Societas Europaea)
ISINFR0013326246
IndustryCommercial real estate
Genre
Founded27 June 2007; 18 years ago (2007-06-27)
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
Area served
Key people
Revenue€5.4 billion
€1.1 billion
Total assets€56.5 billion (December 2020)
Number of employees
3100 (2021)
Websiteurw.com

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (previously Unibail-Rodamco SE) is a multinational commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France, and is the owner and operator of Westfield shopping centres in the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States. Its history originates with the formation of initially two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail (founded in France in 1968) and Rodamco Europe (founded in the Netherlands in 1999), which merged in 2007 and became a societas Europaea in 2009. In 2018, Unibail-Rodamco acquired US and UK opperations of Australian shopping centre operator Westfield Corporation to form the current company.[1][2]

Many of its shopping centres use the Westfield brand launched by Australian Westfield Group in 1960 and shared with Scentre Group for properties in Australia and New Zealand since 2014. As of 2024, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is the largest commercial real estate company in Europe,[3] and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, as well as the French CAC40.[4] Its portfolio consists of retail property, office buildings, and convention centers within Europe and North America.[5] Retail properties owned by Unibail-Rodamco before the merger carry the Westfield name.[6] As of June 2026, the group owns 66 shopping centres in the US and Europe, representing around 88% of the Group’s €49 Bn asset portfolio – with 41 centres operating under the Westfield brand.[4]

History

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Background

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Unibail was founded in 1968 as a finance-leasing unit by a company called Worms & Cie. In 1991, Unibail started focusing on the property investment sector, and phased out involvement in lease financing. It built a property portfolio of close to 30 shopping centres across France – including the Forum des Halles and the arcade within CNIT – and substantial office properties in Paris and La Défense – including the Tour Ariane and the Paris Expo group of convention centres.[7][8] Rodamco Europe formed in 1999 when Rodamco, a property investment fund set up by the Dutch asset management group Robeco in 1979, broke up into various independent listed companies covering different parts of the world. Rodamco Europe subsequently collected a portfolio primarily consisting of shopping centres and other retail spaces across 14 European countries, along with some office property in France and the Netherlands, acquiring smaller European rivals in the process.[9]

2007–2017: Unibail-Rodamco

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Unibail-Rodamco logo, used until 2018

On April 10, 2007, Rodamco Europe announced an agreement to conduct a merger of equals[10] with Unibail to create the largest publicly traded property company in Europe.[11] The merger was confirmed on June 21, 2007, after Unibail announced the acquisition of 80% of Rodamco's shares, making its offer for the remainder unconditional.[12] The merged entity took effect as a société anonyme under the new name Unibail-Rodamco on June 25, 2007.[13]

On June 1, 2011, Unibail-Rodamco hired former Fnac CEO Christophe Cuvillier as the new COO. In collaboration with CEO and chairman of the board Guillaume Poitrinal, he led the company to five years of growth in spite of tough economic conditions.[14]

In May 2015, Unibail revealed it had signed an agreement with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to sell its 46.1% stake in German shopping mall operator MFI AG for €394 million.[15]

2018–present: Acquisition of Westfield

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Westfield logo, in use from 1960 to present

In December 2017, Unibail took over Westfield Corporation, which operated 35 shopping centres in the US and the UK, for a reported price of US$24.8 billion. The shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand branded as Westfield and now held by Scentre Group were not acquired by Unibail.[16] The deal was completed in June 2018, and a number of shopping centres owned by Unibail-Rodamco before the merger were rebranded as Westfields, with 10 flagships rebranding from September 2019.[17]

In November 2020, Colin Dyer resigned as supervisory-board chairman after a shareholder meeting rejected the board's proposal to raise 3.5 billion euros ($4.15 billion). Dyer remained on the board but was replaced as chairman by former Unibail CEO Leon Bressler, one of a consortium of shareholders and investors who had opposed the capital increase and other proposed strategies.[18] In January 2021, Jean-Marie Tritant was appointed chairman of the management board and chief executive officer of the group.[19] In January 2026, Chief Strategy & Investment Officer and acting as COO Europe Vincent Rouget was appointed CEO of URW and Chairman of the Management Board[20].

By June 2026, a total of 21 centres in Europe had been rebranded as Westfields, while two new Westfields had opened – Westfield Mall of the Netherlands (opened in March, 2021)[21] and Westfield Hamburg Überseequartier (opened in June, 2025)[22]. In 2022, URW launched Westfield Rise[23], an in-house media, brand experience and data partnerships agency. A licensing business was launched in 2025, with Cenomi Centers licensing the Westfield name to be used on up to eight of its shopping centres in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with URW providing support in leasing, operations, marketing and retail media[24].

URW's sustainability leadership has been widely recognised. The Group ranked 24th in Corporate Knights' 2025 Global 100 list of the world's most sustainable companies[25], and first in the real estate category. For seven straight years URW has been ranked in CDP's top 'A' rating for Climate Change[26], and in the 2024 GRESB Assessment URW ranked second-highest of all European listed retail real estate companies, with an overall score of 92 out of 100[27]. URW has also been named one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world by Time Magazine.[28]

Corporate affairs

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Management

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  • Vincent Rouget – Group Chief Executive Officer
  • Anne-Sophie Sancerre – Chief Customer and Retail Officer, COO Europe
  • Kathleen Verelst – Chief Investment Officer
  • Fabrice Mouchel – Group Chief Financial Officer
  • Sylvain Montcouquiol – Chief Resources and Sustainability Officer

Shareholders

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The following are the company shareholders as of January 2026:[29]

  • Xavier Niel (Rock Investment et NJJ Market) – 15.13%
  • Société Générale Gestion SA – 11.12%
  • Natixis Investment Managers International SA (BPCE) – 1.89%
  • Financière de l'Échiquier SA (La Banque Postale) – 0.39%
  • Principal Global Investors (Europe) Ltd. – 0.22%
  • OFI Invest Asset Management SA (MACIF) – 0.20%
  • Rothschild & Co. Asset Management SCS – 0.20%
  • Allianz Global Investors GmbH – 0.19%
  • Tocqueville Finance SA – 0.16%
  • Gestion 21 SA – 0.14%

Indexes

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Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is listed in several indexes, including:[30]

  • FTSE4Good (since 2008)
  • Dow Jones Sustainability Index (World since 2008 and Europe since 2010)
  • Advanced Sustainability Performance Eurozone Index (since 2010)
  • Ethibel Sustainability Index (since 2011)
  • ECPI Index (since 2011)
  • STOXX Global ESG Leaders Index (since 2011)
  • Standard Ethics French Index (since 2015)

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is rated A by Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

In 2015, Standard Ethics Aei has given a rating to Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in order to include it in its Standard Ethics French Index.[31]

Assets

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Westfield Chodov, the largest shopping mall in Prague, owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Main article: List of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield properties

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield works with architectural firms such as Thomas Mayne of Morphosis,[32] Herzog & de Meuron,[33] RIADH group (De La Hoz, Cottrell, Michelangeli), the firm Farshid Moussavi Architecture, Cuno & Jean Brullmann Crochon-Luc,[34] and Jean-Paul Viguier.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "International companies". Australian Securities Exchange.
  2. ^ "URW share price and company information for ASX:URW". Australian Securities Exchange.
  3. ^ "Europe: Largest Real Estate Companies 2018". Statista. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "The Group at a glance". www.urw.com. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  5. ^ "The Group At A Glance". Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  6. ^ Danziger, Pamela (December 19, 2017). "Will Unibail-Rodamco Give Westfield Malls A European Makeover". Forbes. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Unibail-Rodamco. "Unibail Historical Data". Retrieved 2007-06-26.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Unibail-Rodamco. "List of properties". Archived from the original on 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  9. ^ Rodamco Europe. "History". Archived from the original on 2007-05-13. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  10. ^ Rodamco Europe. "Rodamco and Unibail merger". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  11. ^ "Unibail, Rodamco to create European property leader". Reuters. April 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  12. ^ "Unibail secures merger with Rodamco Europe". Reuters. June 21, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  13. ^ "Amsterdam shares close slightly lower; Hagemeyer carries the day". AFX News. June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-26.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Unibail-Rodamco SE". Bloomberg. March 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  15. ^ James Regan (15 May 2015). "Unibail sells German mall operator stake to Canada's CPPIB". Reuters. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  16. ^ Thakur Mahrotri, Pooja; Burgess, Matthew (12 December 2017). "Unibail Buys Westfield for $16 Billion as Mall Owners Merge". Bloomberg. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Westfield expands to mainland Europe via shopping centre rebrands". retailgazette.co.uk. 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  18. ^ "Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield appoints new CEO".
  19. ^ Abboud, Leila (19 November 2020). "Unibail replaces chief executive as activists take control". Financial Times.
  20. ^ Hamson, Liz. "URW names new chief executive officer". BE News.
  21. ^ "Westfield Mall of the Netherlands is Officially Open". RLI UK.
  22. ^ "URW announces retail opening of Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier". Global Newswire.
  23. ^ "Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Launch Retail Media Agency". RLI UK.
  24. ^ "Cenomi Centers and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield forge landmark partnership to shape future of retail real estate in KSA". Saudi Gazette.
  25. ^ "2025 Global 100 list: World's most sustainable companies are still betting on a greener world". CorporateKnights.com.
  26. ^ "CDP Scores and A List". Carbon Disclosure Project.
  27. ^ "GRESB 2024 Sector Leaders". GRESB.
  28. ^ "World's Most Sustainable Companies of 2025". Time Magazine.
  29. ^ MarketScreener. "UNIBAIL-RODAMCO-WESTFIELD SE : Shareholders Board Members Managers and Company Profile | FR0013326246 | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  30. ^ Sustainability, awards and ratings, Unibail-rodamco.com
  31. ^ "Standard Ethics Italian Index".
  32. ^ Le Phare (The Lighthouse), Paris, France, Designbuild-network.com
  33. ^ Joseph Ayoub, Tour Triangle, Whitezine, 7 June 2012
  34. ^ Towers, buildings and consultations in La Défense, Nxtbook.fr
  35. ^ Lyon Confluence / Jean-Paul Viguier et Associes, Arch Daily, 8 June 2012
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