REFOCUS consortium of URW shareholders successfully concludes concerted action

PARIS and LUXEMBOURG, Dec. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The consortium of leading European investors formed to prevent a €3.5 billion rights issue by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE (“URW”) and refocus the business on its prime European portfolio has formally ended its concerted action following the successful conclusion of its campaign.

On 10th November 2020, URW shareholders voted to reject the capital increase and appoint all three consortium nominees to the 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.

Since then, URW has taken important steps to deliver on the mandate provided by shareholders at the General Meeting, focussed on establishing corporate governance in accordance with the very best international standards, pursuing a clear strategy with an entrepreneurial mindset, while also ensuring a strong financial position and balance sheet.

These include:

• Strengthening the Supervisory Board with five new appointments: Léon Bressler as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Susana Gallardo and Xavier Niel as members of the Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee and Cécile Cabanis and Julie Avrane-Chopard as members of the Audit Committee.
  
  
• 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. Further members shall be added in due course.
  
  
• The pricing of a three-times oversubscribed €2 billion two-tranche senior bond offering with an average coupon of one percent and an approximately nine-year average term, as well as the successful conclusion of a tender offer to repurchase bonds worth over €500 million. These actions strengthen URW’s liquidity position, while extending the Group’s debt maturity profile and demonstrating continued access to debt capital markets.
  

With its primary goals achieved and a stronger foundation for URW’s future success now in-place, the consortium members have terminated their shareholders agreement, effective 21 December 2020, and informed the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) that they are no longer acting in concert.  

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