America's top ranked and largest mall owner Simon Property has managed to bag a deal to purchase Prime Outlets Acquisition Co. for over $700 Million, which will let the group add as many as 22 more outlet centers to its already impressive fleet of high-end centers.

With the deal, Simon would be given access to new centers that are a part of major metropolitan markets of the country such as Washington, Baltimore, San Antonio and Orlando, as confirmed by the group while announcing the deal on Tuesday.

"We believe this is a solid transaction for the company, which should provide greater upside into 2010 as Simon utilizes its strong retailer relationships to drive occupancy and vendor relationships to cut costs and improve margins", noted Oppenheimer & Co analyst Mark Biffert.

Under the terms of the $713 Million deal, 80% of the total funds for purchase would be cash and 20% would be in operating units, which is like acquiring a firm's stocks. Also, Prime Outlets' debt and preferred stocks would also be assumed by Simon, which would take the deal's total value to a whopping $2.33 Billion.

The deal is expected to reach a closure by the end of 2010's first quarter or beginning of the second quarter.