Westfield to control NY's WTC retail space

[SYDNEY] Westfield Group, Australia's biggest shopping mall operator, will invest US$800 million to take full control of the retail space at New York's World Trade Center.

The company agreed to buy Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's 50 per cent stake in the retail part of lower Manhattan's World Trade Center site, bringing its investment in the property to more than US$1.4 billion, the Sydney-based company and the Port Authority said in separate statements on Wednesday.

The group, which also said it plans to split its domestic and international businesses, is building on that separation with the World Trade Center deal as it bets on faster growth outside its home country. The US will account for two-thirds of properties managed by the new global business, Westfield Corp, and income from the assets will grow by as much as 6 per cent in 2014, it said.