Foreign Property News | Posted by Zarni Kyaw
Chinese online property listing platform Beike Zhaofang has secured $800 million in funding from investors led by Internet giant Tencent, according to Chinese media reports.
The ultimate target funding amount for Beike, which was launched by Chinese brokerage giant Lianjia in April has not yet been announced, with the company continuing to negotiate with investors.
The fund-raising exercise by the offshoot of Chinese real estate brokerage Lianjia also saw a reshuffling of the shareholding for Beike’s parent firm which included the exit of 22 investors, in a move which analysts pegged as part of a run-up to a Beike IPO.
Beike, also known as Ke.com, runs an open listing platform that enables users to search and locate properties, as well as offering financial services to buyers and tenants.
Further details on the series D funding for Beike have yet to be released, however, according to a Beike employee cited by Chinese business news site Caixin, the company set a plan earlier this year to sell 10 percent of its equity for RMB 12 billion ($1.79 billion) before the end of 2019 to support its business expansion.
Based on a RMB 120 billion valuation, Tencent may hold as much as 4.47 percent of Beike after the latest investment.
Chinese business information platform Huxiu reported that Beike would use the new funding on technology research and development for the business-to-business market, product innovation and recruitment as well as to drive the user experience and increase industrial efficiency.
Ref: Property Report
