Increasing opposition to a merger between Westfield Retail Trust Ltd and the Lowy family's Westfield Group Ltd's Australian and New Zealand businesses has seen the former entity forced to fine-tune its sales pitch, The Australian Financial Review reports.
According to the newspaper, Westfield Group's chief financial officer Peter Allen - who is also set to lead the merged entity, known as Scentre - has laid out the cost of the deal for the first time in meetings with key fund managers this week.
A presentation last year reportedly put the value of the new management company or "platform" at $3.6 billion, and the current proposal would see Westfield Retail Trust contribute half of that figure - $1.8 billion - to establish the larger entity,
The AFR reports the presentation by UBS and Morgan Stanley on Westfield Retail Trust's behalf is designed to alleviate concerns over the forecast dilution of in its net tangible asset (NTA) value. A 17 per cent slide in NTA to $2.86 has reportedly been met with opposition by investors, particularly Unisuper, one of the largest stake holders.