The prospect of a rival bid for Westfield Corporation cannot be ruled out, analysts say after Westfield agreed to $US24.7 billion ($A32.7 billion) takeover offer from a Europe-based company.
Shares in the Australian company which owns shopping centres in the US and UK have soared on the after Westfield announced it had agreed to sell the business to Paris property giant Unibail-Rodamco.
JP Morgan analysts say it is possible that a rival bid could emerge amid a raft of merger and acquisitions in the global shopping centre space.
"In our view, the only global listed entity which could conceivably launch a competing bid is the US listed Simon Property Group," a note led by JP Morgan analyst Richard Jones said.
"The acquisition of a portfolio and development pipeline of the quality of Westfield is extremely rare and, therefore, we believe SPG would likely have a very close look at WFD, so we can't rule out a competing offer."
However, he added that the favourable size of Unibail-Rodamco's offer did mean the prospect of a rival bid was low.
The Unibail-Rodamco offer values each Westfield security at $10.00, and has been recommended to shareholders by chairman and major shareholder Frank Lowy.
Mr Lowy, who was Westfield Corp's chief executive for 50 years before handing over to his sons Steven and Peter in 2011, told reporters on Friday that the deal was struck after six weeks of negotiations.
"For the assets I have spent my life building I could not imagine a better home for them than in this new company," he said.
The deal values the Lowy family's stake in in the company at just over $A3 billion.
Unibail-Rodamco is the largest commercial landlord in Europe, with interests in shopping centres, offices and exhibition centres.
It will pay a combination of cash and shares for control of Westfield, at a value representing a premium of 17.8 per cent on the most recent trading value of Westfield securities at the time of the announcement.
Westfield's shares, which resumed trading at 1100 AEDT on Wednesday were up $1.17, or 13.8 per cent, at $9.67 shortly before 1300 AEDT.
