PARIS (Reuters) - Unibail-Rodamco (>> UNIBAIL-RODAMCO) said it has agreed to sell a portfolio of six "non-core" French shopping centres for 850 million euros ($1.09 billion) to Wereldhave (>> WERELDHAVE) as the French real estate group focuses on larger regional malls.

After other disposals, the sale puts Europe's largest property group well on the way to meeting its target of selling 1.5-2.0 billion euros of mall assets by the end of 2018.

Wereldhave said it would finance the acquisition via a rights issue of up to 550 million euros, available cash of about 150 million and existing debt facilities. Completion of the transaction is expected by the end of December.

"This transaction, part of the disposal programme of retail assets announced in February this year, will allow the group to continue to sharpen its focus on large regional shopping centres," Unibail Chief Executive Christophe Cuvillier said in a statement on Thursday.

Unibail, which has 80 percent of its portfolio focused on shopping centres, already signed an agreement last month to sell six French malls for 931 million euros to Carmila, a real estate company backed by retailer Carrefour (>> CARREFOUR).

Falling euro zone inflation and weak consumer spending are constraining mall operators' capacity to raise retail tenant rents, which tend to be linked to inflation and sales trends.

Unibail and rival mall operator Klepierre (>> KLEPIERRE) are focusing on attracting premium brands like Apple (>> Apple Inc.) or fast-growing discount retailers like Primark, part of Associated British Foods (>> Associated British Foods plc).

With the prospect of recovery in the euro zone's economy proving elusive, big mall operators are also concentrating on large malls in big urban areas that tend to have faster growth than the broader economy.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Andrew Callus and James Regan)