'Westfield to sell stake in Stratford mall to Henderson'

Australian retail developer Westfield is in advanced talks to sell a stake of around GBP 750 mln (EUR 842 mln) in its massive shopping centre development in east London to Henderson Global Investors, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The Westfield shopping centre in Stratford will be the gateway to the 2012 Olympic Games and the second-largest mall in the UK, totalling 176,000 m² of retail and leisure space with more than 300 retailers including John Lewis, Marks and Spencer and the Vue cinema chain. It will also include offices and two hotels.

According to the FT, the deal would considerably reduce the development risk for Westfield, which is one of the few developers to build a large new shopping centre in the UK due to lack of finance. Henderson is reportedly planning to create a fund around Westfield Stratford that would be open to certain large clients.