SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s leading integrated property developer, is now in an ‘exploratory stage’ in terms of expanding to other Southeast Asian countries.
SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said in an interview at the sidelines of the company’s P20-billion bond listing at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. the company started sending people to Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia to conduct studies.
It also hired consultants who were expected to submit their assessments before the end of the year.
“We are now in the exploratory stage and we have sent people and got consultants for us to be able to evaluate,” Lim said.
“I don’t think we will go to all [Asean countries]. We are going to two to three countries just to study and then we decide. Hopefully before the end to year we get the consultants to help us assess,” Lim said.
Lim said the Asean expansion would involve both residential and mall developments. SM Prime currently has seven malls in China. It will also start pre-selling condominium projects in Chengdu, China.