April 22, 2004

Sydney - Australia's Westfield Holdings said Thursday it will combine its three entities to create the world's largest listed retail property group.

The new entity, to be known as Westfield Group, would hold A$34 billion

(R168.8 billion) of property assets and have interests in 123 shopping centres with 19 500 retailers in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Britain, the group said in a statement.

The new company would be formed by joining Westfield Holdings Ltd. with its US and Australian listed trusts - Westfield America Trust and Westfield Trust.

Westfield Holdings chairman Frank Lowy said the group would be internally managed and based in Australia.

"The rationale for the proposal is all about growth - to create a global operating and financial structure to match global opportunities," Lowy said.

"Increasingly, these opportunities require substantial financial capacity and a balance sheet larger than any one of the existing Westfield entities."

The group would be the eighth largest entity on the Australian Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of more than A$22 billion (R109 billion), he said. - AFP