Will Westfield Brandon Be Sold By 2023 As European Company Makes Up For COVID losses?

BRANDON, FL — The owner of the Westfield Brandon Mall plans to sell many of its U.S. properties, according to a Westfield news release.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, a company headquartered in Paris, is the parent company of Westfield malls. It has malls in the U.S. and in Europe. Based on reports and information from Westfield, it is unclear if the company will keep some of its U.S. locations or entirely sell them.

In a company news release sent to Patch, it said, "Following the completion of its comprehensive deleveraging program, which includes the radical reduction of financial exposure to the U.S. in 2022 and 2023, URW will emerge as a European pure-play with a portfolio of high-quality, high-performing assets located in the continent’s wealthiest cities and catchment areas."

It plans to sell all of its U.S. malls by the end of 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

The Wall Street Journal said the parent company wants to have most of its U.S. malls sold by the beginning of 2024 last Tuesday.

Unibail paid about $16 billion for Westfield Corp. about four years ago, the Times said.

Like companies around the world, Unibail did experience a loss of sales during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of its business was lost to online sales, and a decrease in foot traffic as people went out less. This plan hopes to return Unibail's income to pre-COVID levels, a news release said.

Patch reached out to Westfield's public relations to see if they planned to keep ownership of the Westfield Brandon Mall, and they responded in an email, "We have no comment other than what is in the attached press release. On background, I can share that this is a strategy that was announced at the start of 2021, and been reiterated at each of the company’s results throughout the past year."

The company said 95 percent of its U.S. malls are in the top tier of sales.

Florida Malls Westfield Owns Is Listed Below:

• Brandon
• Broward
• Citrus Park
• Countryside
• Sarasota
• Southgate
• Westland

Jacob Baumgart contributed to this Patch story.

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