Westfield Group could end up recutting the numbers for its $65.8 billion global shopping centre empire restructure, according to sources, so that shareholders in the company's smaller listed satellite receive a larger payout.
One market source said yesterday that they believed the proposal favoured unitholders in Westfield Group -- the company in which the founding Lowy family holds its money -- over those in Westfield Retail Trust.
The Lowy family sold their $664 million stake in WRT earlier this year.
If the company perceived that the current proposal was unlikely to receive WRT shareholder support, they may change the way shares in each group were distributed, a source said.
In the latest deal, the company is proposing to spin the Australian and New Zealand operations of Westfield Group into WRT -- a satellite that currently owns 50 per cent of Westfield's Australasian shopping malls.
Under the proposal, WRT shareholders will receive $285 cash plus 918 shares in a new company called Scentre Group for every 1000 units held.
Westfield Group shareholders would receive 1000 units in the new Westfield Corporation and 1246 securities in Scentre Group for every 1000 Westfield Group shares held. Westfield Group's shares rallied on the news, while WRT shares fell.
Meanwhile, some have suggested the latest deal could help the Commonwealth Bank when it comes to placing a value on the management rights of its CFS Retail Fund, which has been earmarked for a management internalisation process.
However, analyst numbers on the value of the management rights of Scentre Group range from $600m and $1.7bn, and it is difficult to draw any parallels.
It is understood that one of the sticking points between CBA and the fund's directors could be the price of the performance fees paid out for CFS Retail.