Australian Retirement Trust (ART) is buying a 19.9 per cent interest in Westfield Sydney for $864 million, making it the new joint venture partner at the shopping centre.

Scentre Group will continue to own 80.1 per cent of the centre and will remain the property, leasing and development manager.

The purchase price represents Scentre’s book value at June 30, 2025 and a valuation capitalisation rate of 4.69 per cent.

Located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, Westfield Sydney boasts approximately 97,500sqm of gross lettable area and is visited by more than 33 million customers each year. It generated total business partner sales in excess of $1.1 billion in 2024.

“Introducing new capital, through joint venturing our assets, forms a key part of our long-term strategic plan,” said Scentre Group CEO Elliott Rusanow. “During 2025, we have announced approximately $2.2 billion of new third party capital coming into the Group through the joint venturing of our assets.”

Scentre Group has invested $3.3 billion into Westfield Sydney since it took ownership of the retail precinct in 2001.

“Our net investment in Westfield Sydney is now $0.9 billion and our remaining 80.1 per cent interest is valued at $3.5 billion. This represents an increase of almost 4 times our capital investment in Westfield Sydney since acquisition,” Rusanow added.

The deal with ART is expected to close in early February. The transaction follows the recent joint venturing of 50 per cent of Westfield Chermside in Brisbane with two Dexus funds for $1.3 billion.