NEW YORK CITY- Stamford, CT-based Starwood Capital Corp. is in discussions with Sydney-based Westfield Group for majority stakes in seven US malls, the Wall Street Journal reported. While the terms of the deal have not been publicly released due to confidentiality agreements, the transaction is expected to go for as high as $1 billion.

The WSJ said five of the seven are among 17 US malls that Westfield put on the market last year. In 2011, the company teamed up with Toronto-based Canada Pension Plan Investment Board as a 45% joint venture partner in a portfolio of 12 US assets, with a value of about $4.8 billion, GlobeSt.com previously reported. The company has also sold its 50% interest in three malls in the United Kingdom, with these centers valued at about $632 million.

Starwood Capital has tapped Manhattan-based brokerage Eastdil Secured to line up mortgages to put on three of the malls, and it will assume mortgages already in place for the other three, though the financing on the final property could not be determined, the WSJ said.