SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest mall operator, said Thursday it raised P6.55 billion in its first equity placement since it went public in July 1994.

The company sold 569.61 million shares in a block sale at the Philippine Stock Exchange at P11.50 each to institutional investors in Asia, Europe and the US, SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock exchange. The shares are equivalent to 4.1 percent of the company’s capital.

Proceeds will fund its expansion program in the Philippines and China, the company said.

“This placement is expected to broaden our shareholder base and increase trading liquidity. The strong uptake of the placement affirms investor confidence in SM Prime as one of the best property development companies in the Philippines,” SM Prime president Hans Sy said in a statement.

The price represents a 4-percent discount to SM Prime’s closing price of P11.98 on Oct. 13. SM Prime tapped Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. and CLSA Asia Pacific as joint book runners for the placement.

SM Prime chief finance officer Jeffrey Lim said the company would use majority of the proceeds raised from the placement to finance the development of shopping malls in the Philippines and China.

“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.