Unibail flags room to move on Westfield bid following ASIC query

A query from ASIC has prompted France’s Unibail-Rodamco to clarify its position on its bid for Westfield.

Unibail Rodamco chief executive Christophe Cuvillier. (The Australian/Chris Pavlich )

Intervention by Australia’s corporate regulator has prompted French giant Unibail-Rodamco to clarify its position on its bid for Westfield as the value of the once $32 billion deal drops due to bond and share market volatility.

Unibail chief executive Christophe Cuvillier on Monday appeared to rule out sweetening the deal, telling The Australian that the offer remains “full and fair” and noting that Westfield’s (WFD) stock would be significantly lower without the French bid.

It is understood that concerns were raised under the ‘truth in takeover’ provisions under the Corporations Act.

But in a statement to the French stock exchange last night, Unibail-Rodamco said it “has been asked by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to clarify its position on the transaction terms”.

“Unibail-Rodamco reiterates that it believes the value of its offer is full and fair. Unibail-Rodamco has no intention to change the terms of the offer nor does it see any reason why it may do so in the future, but it does of course reserve the right to do so.”

The French group said it continued to have the full support of the supervisory board of Unibail, Westfield’s board and the Lowy family.

But the fresh statement gives it the capacity to deal with Australian fund managers who are pushing for Unibail to top up either the cash or script component of the bid.

The transaction requires two-thirds of Unibail shareholders to approve it, which reduces the chance of a raised offer.

Westfield also needs support from 75 per cent of its investors for the merger to go ahead. A meeting date has yet to be set but is expected to be before June.

Unibail has offered Westfield 0.01844 of its shares and $US2.67 cash for every one share of the Australian-listed company.

The deal valued Westfield at $10.01 a share when unveiled in early December. However, Unibail’s share price is now down about 13 per cent, which with currency fluctuations values Westfield at about $8.75 a share.

“We think the deal is priced at a very fair price. This process has taken some time. We think the price is full and fair,” Mr Cuvillier said on Monday.

“I don’t see any reason we need to change it. When you look in absolute terms at the stock price of Unibail-Rodamco yes, it has gone down recently.”

“But not more than other major European or American or Australian groups ... I think you should not look at this in isolation but relative to what has happened to other ­players.”