FRESH funds have been made available to listed SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH). This, after the mall developer and operator successfully completed the sale of P3 billion worth of fixed rate notes, the Henry Sy-controlled listed firm said Wednesday.

The facility, which was arranged by First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), has maturities of five, seven and 10 years from issue date.

“The facility was oversubscribed with 16 primary institutional lenders subscribing to the issue. The strong response by the market to this financing illustrates the high credit quality of SMPH, as well as the local market’s confidence in the company,�? said executive vice president and chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim.

SMPH, which owns a chain of malls in various parts of the country and in China, will use the proceeds to bankroll ongoing capital expenditures and general corporate requirements.

This year the company will be spending P6 billion for the construction and expansion of shopping malls in the country. Another P1 billion is allotted for a fourth mall in China, which it plans to put up next quarter.

The newest mall will be located in Chongqing, southwest China’s commercial capital. It will have a gross floor area (GFA) of 140,000 sq meters (sq m) and is set for completion by 2010.

SMPH has three existing malls located in the southern and western parts of China—in Xiamen, Jinjiang and Chengdu. The mall in Xiamen was opened in December 2001. It has a GFA of 128,000 sq m, almost similar in size to SM City Santa Mesa, and is now 100-percent occupied. SM Jinjiang opened in November 2005 with a GFA of 170,000 sq m and occupancy of 74 percent. Opened last year was SM Chengdu with a GFA of 170,000 sq m and an occupancy rate of 71 percent.

“China is still a relatively new area for us and we will remain conservative in our approach when it comes to investing there,�? president Hans Sy said in a previous interview.

In the next five years, SMPH plans to build three to four additional malls in China as part of its long-term growth strategy.

Despite aggressive moves to expand offshore, Lim said it expects the local operations to carry growth for SMPH.

“While the three existing malls in China are all profitable, we expect them to only contribute 3 percent to our revenues this year and probably around 10 percent in the next 10 years given their small size compared with the local malls. But the potential for growth is huge,�? he explained.

SMPH, whose shares are listed at the stock exchange, acquired last year the China-based malls owned by the Sy family for P10.8 billion. The purchase was done via a share swap in which SMPH issued 913 million new shares to the Sy family, valued at around P11.86 per share.

The acquisition will allow SMPH to gain a foothold in China’s fast-growing economy and use this as a platform for long-term growth outside of the Philippines where it is already the most dominant player.