Westfield Group is the world's largest shopping center operator by assets. The company said it would sell seven malls in the US to an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group LLC. The transaction would be valued for USD1.6 billion. Starwood Capital is an investment firm led by Barry Sternlicht.

Sydney based Westfield would divest its malls to be able to redeploy capital to other projects. This was according to a statement issued by the company in the Australian stock exchange. Westfield would retain a 10% interest in the shopping malls that would be managed by Starwood, said the company.

Westfield's co-chief executive officer Peter Lowy said, "Today's announcement continues the implementation of our strategic plan which positions Westfield to generate greater shareholder value. "We are focused on redeploying our capital into superior retail destinations in major cities through divesting non-core assets and introducing joint venture partners."

This year, Westfield shares increase 2.7% compared with its 12.3% gain in the benchamerk S&P/ASX 200 index.