SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime), the country’s leading mall developer, said yesterday that it has raised $150 million from an equity placement.

SM Prime said that the proceeds will be used to finance its expansion program and for general working capital.

‘The majority of the proceeds raised from the placement will be used to finance the development of shopping malls in the Philippines and China,’ Jeffrey Lim, SM Prime executive vice president and CFO, said.

SM Prime said that the equity placement comprised 569.6 million common shares, with the placement price set at P11.50 per share following a successful overnight bookbuilding process.

The company added that it saw strong interest from high quality institutional investors in Asia, Europe, and the US.

‘This placement is expected to broaden our shareholder base and increase trading liquidity,’ Hans Sy, SM Prime president, said.

‘The strong uptake of the placement affirms investor confidence in SM Prime as one of the best property development companies in the Philippines,’ he added.

Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte. Limited and CLSA Asia Pacific acted as joint bookrunners for the placement.

‘The growth of our mall portfolio will further strengthen our geographical reach, increase market share, and thus create long-term value to all our shareholders,’ Lim said.

‘This equity fund raising, together with the proposed SM Prime REIT IPO which will be pursued as soon as the implementing rules are finalized, will put SM Prime in a very strong position to continue growing our businesses,’ he added.

Meanwhile, SM Prime is set to open its 39th shopping mall in the country today.

SM Prime said SM City Calamba is its third mall in Laguna, after SM City Sta. Rosa and the recently opened SM City San Pablo.

‘The brand new mall has a gross floor area of 66,516 square meters and occupies 55,102 sq. m. of land,’ SM Prime said.

It said 82 percent of the leasable area has been awarded to tenants.

‘The mall’s anchor tenants are SM Supermarket, SM Department Store, SM Appliance Center, Ace Hardware, BDO, and Watsons. Other mall tenants include Jollibee, McDonald’s, KFC, Red Ribbon, Bench, Penshoppe, and National Bookstore, among others,’ SM Prime said.

It also offers a business center, a Cyberzone, a 340-seater food court, four cinemas with a combined seating capacity of 1,200, and parking slots for 300 vehicles.

‘SM City Calamba followed this year’s opening of SM City Tarlac and SM City San Pablo. With 39 malls all over the country, SM Prime has developed a combined GFA of 4.8 million sq. m,’ the company said.

‘Before the year ends, the company is set to open SM City Novaliches in Quezon City and its fourth mall in mainland China, which will be located in the city of Suzhou,’ it added.