SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest shopping mall operator and developer, plans to raise as much as $300 million from the public offering of its real estate investment trust in the Philippines, a senior company official said Wednesday.

SM Prime chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim said the company would finalize the plan after the release of the implementing rules of the recently-enacted Reit law.

“If the law becomes a reality by the second quarter, SM Prime will definitely look at setting up a Reit company,” Lim said.

The Reit Law allows companies to list their income-earning property assets, such as malls or even highways, in the stock exchange.

The rules on the law are expected to come out 90 days after the signing of the law on Dec. 17, 2009.

Lim said law offered an alternative scheme for the company to raise funds to finance expansion plans.

He said SM Prime would hire a financial adviser to assist it in finalizing Reit plans, including the list of malls to be placed under a new company. SM Prime currently operates 36 malls in the Philippines.

SM Prime plans to use proceeds from the listing of a Reit company to finance construction of new malls and pay debt.

SM Prime this year plans to spend P12 billion in capital outlay. It is set to open five malls this year, one each in Calamba, Laguna; Masinag, Antipolo; San Pablo, Laguna; Novaliches, Quezon City; and Tarlac.

It is also allotting P4 billion of the P12-billion capital spending this year to expand operations in China.

SM Prime runs three malls in China—Xiamen, Jinjiang and Chengdu.

The company last year said it planned to build one mall each year in China from 2010 and 2014 before aggressively expanding to other areas.

Lim said SM Prime planned to use the proceeds from the Reit listing to reduce debt, a $30-million loan maturing in 2011.

He said SM Prime likely increased its net income in 2009 by 8 percent to 10 percent and revenues by 12 percent to 15 percent.

SM Prime registered a net income of P5.1 billion in the first nine months of 2009, up 8 percent year-on-year, and revenues of P14.6 billion, up 14.6 percent on year.

Lim said the expected improvement of the domestic economy this year would “offer better opportunities for the company.”