The Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) share price has dipped 3% today

The Unibail Rodamco Westfield (ASX:URW) share price has slipped 3.2% after the REIT's latest European asset sale announcement.

Ken Hall

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Published December 22, 2020 10:29 am AEDT

The Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW) share price is falling this morning after the latest acquisition announcement from the European-based real estate group.

At the time of writing, the Unibail share price is trading down 3.28% at $4.72.

asx share price fall represented by lady in striped tshirt making sad face against orange background — Image source: Getty Images

What is Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield?

The group is Europe's largest commercial real estate company and trades as a real estate investment trust (REIT) on the ASX.

Unibail purchased the USA and UK Westfield assets for a reported US$24.8 billion in December 2017. The Australian and New Zealand Westfields centres remain under the control of Scentre Group (ASX: SCG).

What did the property group announce?

Unibail announced yesterday that it will sell several office assets out of the group. The real estate group has entered into separate agreements with several French institutional investors for the sale of its Village 3, Village 4 and Village 6 office buildings.

The total net disposal price of €213 million (A$343.7 million) represents a premium to the last unaffected book value.

The transactions are subject to standard conditions precedent and expected to close in the first quarter 2021.

The latest disposals are part of Unibail's €4 billion (A$6.5 billion) disposal program, with the company having completed €0.8 billion (A$1.3 billion) once these transactions settle.

How has the Unibail share price performed?

Shares in the Aussie REIT have been steaming home ahead of Christmas and the New Year. The Unibail share price has rocketed 70.0% higher since November 9 and is currently trading at $4.72 per share.

However, the group's shares are still trading well below their $11.40 52-week high set in December 2019.

The Unibail share price has still fallen 56.6% for the year. Coronavirus concerns continue to weigh on the REITs as profitability remains under pressure.

Foolish takeaway

The Unibail share price is one to watch this morning as the European real estate manager continues on with its €4 billion asset disposal program.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) closed flat on Monday at 6,699.9 points in a middling start to the week.

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