Publicly listed SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest shopping mall developer and operator, said Friday it formalized the acquisition of three malls in China as part of its growth strategy.

In a statement, SM Prime said the three malls are located in the Chinese cities of Jinjiang, Xiamen and Chengdu.

“Among their anchor tenants are retailing giant Wal-Mart, international fast-food restaurants McDonald’s and KFC, and department store SM-Laiya,? the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The company, controlled by the mall magnate Henry Sy, said it would submit relevant documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PSE relating to its latest acquisitions in China.

Subject to approval of the SEC and the PSE, the acquisition will be implemented through a share swap agreement,�? the company said.

Under the scheme, SM Prime will issue 372.49 million new common shares to Oriental Land Development Ltd. in exchange for 100-percent equity in Mega Make Enterprises Ltd., a corporation that effectively owns 100 percent of SM Jinjiang.

SM Prime will also issue 540.4 million new common shares to Grand China International Ltd. in exchange for 100-percent equity in Affluent Capital Enterprises, the corporation that owns SM Xiamen and SM Chengdu.

The SM Prime common shares have a par value of P1 per share.

SM Prime said that it had hired Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and Macquarie Securities (Asia) Pte. Ltd. as financial advisers for the acquisition.

Savills Valuation and Professional Services Ltd. will act as property appraiser, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. and Commerce and Finance Law Offices will handle China and tax regulatory issues.

Grant Thornton International would act as the deal’s independent financial adviser, it said.

Late last year, SM Prime president Hans Sy described the plan to fold in the China malls into SM Prime as a strategy to “raise capital much faster and much cheaper? than through the Chinese capital market.

While SM Prime shareholders agree on the need to acquire the Chinese malls, he said they were also wary about “recklessly expanding.?

The company operates 28 malls in the Philippines, including some of the biggest in Metro Manila. It is expanding, on a smaller scale in terms of floor area, outside Metro Manila.