The consortium of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) shareholders which successfully blocked the company's proposed €3.5 bn rights issue and transformed its governance, has formally terminated its temporary alliance.
Gathered under the 'refocus' banner, and led by former Unibail chief Léon Bressler and French billionaire Xavier Niel, the minority shareholders said they had successfully concluded their concerted action to redirect the company towards a 'clear strategy with an entrepreneurial mindset while also ensuring a strong financial position and balance sheet'.
As a result, they have now terminated their shareholders' agreement dated December 2020. The group has informed the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) that they are no longer acting in concert.
The consortium's goals included both blocking a capital increase which required a two-third majority vote and refocusing the business on its prime European portfolio, by activating further disposals in the US.
The consortium also managed to appoint all three of its nominees to URW's supervisory board, making 'refocus' the first campaign in the last ten years to successfully challenge a CAC 40 company’s strategic and board appointment recommendations, the shareholders said.
Results included the appointment, effective January 2021, of a new management board with Jean-Marie Tritant as chairman and group CEO, plus Fabrice Mouchel as group CFO, with further members also set to follow.
The consortium also revolutionised the supervisory board with five new appointments: Bressler as chairman, Susana Gallardo and Niel as members of the governance, nomination and remuneration committee and Cécile Cabanis and Julie Avrane-Chopard as members of the audit committee.
Before Christmas, the company sucessfully priced a three-times oversubscribed €2 bn two-tranche senior bond offering with an average coupon of 1% and an approximately nine-year average term, as well as concluding a tender offer to repurchase bonds worth over €500 mln.
According to the shareholders, these actions have served to strengthen URW’s liquidity position, while extending the group’s debt maturity profile and demonstrating continued access to debt capital markets.
