PREIT, owner of Plymouth Meeting Mall and Willow Grove Park Mall, has executed a 1-to-15 reverse stock split to boost its share price and prevent potential delisting on the New York Stock Exchange, writes Bob Fernandez for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“It was a move that was done in order to maintain listing on the New York Stock Exchange given the deterioration of our stock price,” said Joe Coradino, PREIT’s CEO. “We’re doing what is in the best interest of shareholders, continue to operate the business, lower our debt, improve capital stack and continue to develop great assets.”

The Philadelphia-based REIT saw its stock go up 34.75 percent to $5.32 a share Thursday. Earlier in the week, the stock was trading at around 30 cents a share.

PREIT filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020, and while it exited that same year, the company still carried debts of around $2 billion. To survive the threat from both its debt and continuously growing online retail competitors, PREIT said it planned to sell property.

The company also plans to develop thousands of apartments within its mall properties over the coming years and focus on its best-performing malls.

Read more about PREIT and their reverse stock split in The Philadelphia Inquirer.