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17 September 2020 By Aimee Donnellan Follow @aimeedonnellan

The shopping mall owner plans to raise $4 bln from investors and flog buildings worth nearly $5 bln. Bolstering its balance sheet protects its credit rating even if real estate values fall further. But the rescue depends on buyers and shareholders taking a less gloomy view.

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Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced on Sept.16 a 9 billion euro “reset plan” to strengthen its balance sheet.

The property group’s plan includes a fully underwritten 3.5 billion euro equity offering, a plan to cut cash dividends by 1 billion euros over two years, 800 million euros of operating cost savings and asset sales to raise 4 billion euros by the end of 2021.

The mall owner said it is seeking to preserve its investment grade credit rating, and for the value of its debt not to exceed more than 40% of the value of its assets. The ratio stood at 41.5% at the end of June, but would fall to 30.9% if the plan is executed in fall. Unibail also wants to keep its net debt below 9 times EBITDA.

Unibail shares were down 4.4% at 38.25 euros by 0737GMT on Sept. 17.

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