Rodamco Europe said Tuesday it has agreed to be bought by French rival Unibail Holding for about $14.8 billion in stock, sending shares of the Dutch real-estate group higher.

Rodamco Europe said Tuesday it has agreed to be bought by French rival Unibail Holding for about $14.8 billion in stock, sending shares of the Dutch real-estate group higher.

A combination of the two would create Europe's largest commercial property company with a retail and office portfolio worth about $29 billion and rental income of $1.3 billion, based on 2006 figures, the companies said in a statement. The combined company will be led by Unibail chief executive Guillaume Poitrinal, with Rodamco's supervisory board chairman Robert van Oordt taking on the same role in the merged group.

Rodamco said the deal was backed by all the members of its supervisory and management board except Terry Dornbush, who abstained from voting and has elected to resign from the board. The deal has also received the backing of PGGM, the Dutch pension fund that's the largest shareholder in Rodamco with around a 25% stake.

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