SM Prime to acquire Henry Sy malls in China SM Prime Holdings Inc. is poised to acquire three malls in China owned by the company's controlling shareholder, Henry Sy. In a statement, SM Prime said it has tapped Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and Macquire Securities (Asia) Pte Ltd. as joint financial advisers in evaluating the potential acquisition of the malls. Earlier, the SM group was mulling over whether it would acquire the China malls and fold it under SM Prime or list under a separate entity that would be listed at the local or international stock market. Another option was to register the malls under a real-estate investment trust (REIT) in China, Hong Kong or Singapore, since the Philippines is still not conducive for REITs due to the present tax structure. Each mall is almost as big as SM Southmall in Las Piñas. During the first half this year, SM Prime's profits grew 11 percent to P2.9 B as gross revenues climbed 22 percent to P7.45 B over last year due to its aggressi...
