Westfield Sells 7 U.S. Malls to Starwood for $1 Billion

Westfield Group, the world’s biggest shopping center operator by assets, will sell eight malls in the U.S. for $1.15 billion, using the funds to repay debt and invest in businesses offering higher returns.

The Sydney-based company will sell seven of the properties, which are among its “non-core” assets, to Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group LLC for $1 billion, and another property to an undisclosed buyer for $147 million, it said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange today. The shares rose to the highest in more than a year.