VC-backed 58.com acquires Chinese real estate platform
Chinese online marketplace 58.com, a VC-backed classifieds website along the lines of Craigslist, has acquired Anjuke, an online real estate listing platform, for about $267 million.
According to a release, 58.com has issued about five million new ordinary shares and paid an additional $160 million in exchange for 100% of Anjuke. Following the acquisition, Anjuke will continue to operate under its own brand.
Founded in 2007, Shanghai-based Anjuke is a platform for home buyers and renters to search for new homes or secondary real estate. It also enables real estate developers to market their properties online. The company has a presence in 67 cities in China.
"There is still very robust demand for real estate in China and the opportunity for the best online real estate platform remains massive," said Michael Jinbo Yao, chairman and CEO of 58.com. "This transaction allows us to create China's largest secondary and rental real estate platform by combining 58.com's housing content category with Anjuke's platform."
Yao added that the housing category has been one of 58.com's fastest growing businesses and this acquisition allows the company to generate new growth by expanding into primary real estate services, which it previously did not cover.
Launched in 2005, 58.com is a platform for classified ads for flat rental, recruitment, second hand goods and cars. Its services cover approximately 380 cities in China.
The firm went public in the US in October 2013, raising $187 million. The company's annual report for 2013 indicates that Warburg Pincus, SAIF Partners and DCM held stakes of 17.9%, 14.7% and 13.5% respectively.
Revenue - primarily derived from memberships and online marketing services - came to $145.7 million in 2013, up from $87.1 million in 2012 and $41.5 million the year before that. 58.com turned profitable in 2013, generating net income of $19.6 million. This compares to losses of $30.4 million and $83.4 million in 2012 and 2011.
In June last year, Tencent Holdings paid $736 million for a 19.9% stake in 58.com. In the same year, the classifieds site acquired Chinese recruitment platform M91.cn and invested $25 million in Beijing-based online driver services provider eDaijia.cn.
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