Initiating Coverage of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the Shopping Center REIT

Since acquiring Westfield in 2018, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has focused on aggressive deleveraging to repair its balance sheet. After shareholders rejected a proposed capital raise in 2020, the group pivoted toward an asset disposal program. Between 2021 and 2024, URW achieved EUR 6.4 billion in disposals, bringing net debt/EBITDA from 16 times in 2020 to 9.5 times. In 2025, URW completed or secured a further EUR 2.2 billion of disposals, bringing its net debt/EBITDA to 9.1 times and its loan/value to 42%. By 2028, URW is targeting net debt/EBITDA of 8.0 times and a loan/value of 40%.