Westfield Corporation

Frank Lowy and John Saunders founded the company in 1959 in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. It went public on the ASX in 1960 (per public record).

Westfield Corporation was acquired by Unibail-Rodamco in 2018 for ~$24.7 billion. The combined entity became Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW). The Lowy family transitioned to private investment activities (per Reuters, 2018).

No. Westfield Corporation no longer exists as a standalone public company. Its US and UK malls are owned and operated by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. The Westfield brand name still appears on many shopping centers.

Westfield developed and owned large, enclosed shopping centers anchored by department stores and major national retailers. Properties were typically super-regional malls with hundreds of stores, multiple anchor tenants, and food courts.

Westfield had a strong presence in Australia across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. In the US, the firm operated malls in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Illinois, California, and other states. It also developed Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City in London, UK.

The Lowy family, particularly Frank Lowy and his sons Steven and Peter, held significant voting control through a dual-class share structure. This gave the family effective control over the company's strategy and major decisions, including the 2014 restructuring and subsequent sale.

Westfield historically focused on owning and operating completed, income-producing shopping centers. It did not typically fund ground-up development itself, but rather acquired existing centers or developed new projects in partnership with third-party capital.