The spin-off will raise up to $3.5 billion through the issue of new shares and is expected to have $9 billion of assets.
The deal is aimed at unleashing value for the company to give more flexibility for further expansion.
The equity raising will be led by Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Credit Suisse.
The company rang other brokers this morning to offer a role in the deal, which explains why word leaked out into the market.
Morgan Stanley is advising the company on the deal, which will be by way of distribution to shareholders of 50 per cent of the Australian assets with the parent company to own the other 50 per cent.
The market had been abuzz with speculation that Westfield was about to make a “major” announcement tomorrow.
This afternoon, Westfield responded to "media speculations" and requested a trading halt, until the market opened tomorrow.
In its ASX statement, Westfield said it requested a trading halt in respect of its shares pursuant to Listing Rule 17.1, pending a further announcement about a possible transaction.
Sources said that Westfield would be doing the raising for acquisitions and to fund its development program.
They suggested that Westfield was considering buying some of the assets expected to come to the market from the $4.5bn Centro portfolio, as it ramps up its Australian operation.
Throughout the global financial crisis, Westfield’s Australian operation held up and helped offset the sluggishness of US retail sales.
Westfield, the world's largest shopping centre owner, has 119 centres, of which 44 centres are located in Australia, valued at $22bn. The rest is located mostly in the US, Britain and New Zealand.
Last week, Westfield opened the first stage of its $1.2bn Sydney Westfield project.
Speculation continues in the market that half of the centre could be for sale.
These sources said that part of the raising could be to fund its huge pipeline of development.
The group currently has projects underway, costing $4.4bn.
Westfield has a deep development pipeline, particularly in Australia, where it is currently developing two projects.
The group last came to the market in February last year when it raised $2.9bn at $10.50 per unit. In that offer, the units were offered at a 13 per cent discount.
At June 30, the group had assets under management of $61.7bn, and gearing ratio of 37.4 per cent. It had available liquidity of $7.3bn.
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