SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest shopping mall developer and operator, is formally executing its acquisition of three malls owned by the Sy family in China.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, SM Prime said it submitted the relevant documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PSE relating to its acquisition of three malls in China.

The three malls are located in 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.

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

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.

On the other hand, SM Prime will 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 common shares have a par value of P1 per share.

SM Prime tapped Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and Macquarie Securities (Asia) Pte. Ltd. as financial advisers for the acquisition and Savills Valuation and Professional Services Ltd. as property appraiser, PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. and Commerce and Finance Law Offices for China and tax regulatory issues, while Grant