BEIJING, July 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SouFun
Holdings Limited (NYSE: SFUN, "SouFun" or the "Company"), the
leading real estate Internet portal in China, today announced that it has entered
into strategic cooperation agreements respectively with
China's No.1 and No.4 new home
agency companies, Shenzhen World Union Properties Consultancy Co.,
Ltd. ("World Union") (stock code: 002285) listed on the Shenzhen
Stock Exchange and Hopefluent Group Holdings Limited ("Hopefluent")
(stock code: 00733) listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Pursuant to the strategic cooperation agreement with World
Union, 1) SouFun and World Union will form a mutually preferred
strategic partnership across their business lines, including
advertising, e-commerce, listing service, new home agency and
consultancy, etc.; 2) SouFun and World Union will collaborate and
explore further partnership in internet and real estate financing
businesses; 3) SouFun will subscribe for new shares of World Union
in a private placement for 10% of World Union's outstanding
share capital immediately after the completion of the private
placement. The aggregate cash consideration for this strategic
cooperation agreement amounts to approximately US$120 million. The completion of this strategic
cooperation agreement is subject to approval by World Union's
shareholders and by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
Pursuant to the strategic cooperation agreement with Hopefluent,
1) SouFun and Hopefluent will form a mutually preferred strategic
partnership across their business lines, including advertising,
e-commerce, listing service, new home and resale agency,
consultancy and property management, etc.; 2) SouFun and Hopefluent
will collaborate and form a joint venture in internet and real
estate financing businesses mainly to support Hopefluent's core new
home agency businesses; 3) SouFun will subscribe for new shares of
Hopefluent in a private placement and purchase shares from existing
shareholders for a total of approximately 17% of
Hopefluent's outstanding share capital immediately after the
completion such transactions. The aggregate cash consideration for
this strategic cooperation agreement amounts to approximately
US$ 91 million. The completion of
this strategic cooperation agreement is subject to approval by
Hopefluent's shareholders and by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Vincent Mo, SouFun's executive
chairman, comments: "This is a top players' cooperation and
partnership. As the leading online platform in China's huge real estate market, SouFun has
been looking for the leading off-line players to work together for
the industrial upgrade of China's
expanding new home and resale market. Both World Union and
Hopefluent are the front runners of China's new home agency and consultancy
companies. They are SouFun's best choices for forming strategic O2O
partnerships. I am sure that these strategic cooperation
partnerships will not only allow SouFun a broader and deeper access
in real estate transactions but also enhance World Union and
Hopefluent's leadership, innovation, and evolvement by integrating
internet and mobile elements into their very successful offline
operations. I look forward to seeing a new World Union and a new
Hopefluent. "
About World Union
World Union is the largest nationwide agency company in
China. Since 1993, World Union has
provided comprehensive value-added services ranging from planning
of marketing programs and related consultancy services to handling
of property sales and related financing services for over 20,000
real estate developers and over 6 million households. World Union
is ranked No.1 among the top 50 real estate agency companies in
China by China Real Estate Index
System, a real estate research publication operated by SouFun.
About Hopefluent
Hopefluent is principally engaged in real estate agent business
for the primary and secondary property markets in China. It provides comprehensive value-added
services ranging from planning of marketing programs and related
consultancy services to handling of property sales and mortgage
arrangements. Hopefluent is ranked No.4 among the top 50 real
estate agency companies in China
by China Real Estate Index System, a real estate research
publication operated by SouFun.
About SouFun
SouFun operates the leading real estate Internet portal in
China in terms of the number of
page views and visitors to its websites in 2013, according to DCCI,
an independent market research institution commissioned by us.
Through our websites, we provide marketing, e-commerce, listing and
other value-added services for China's fast-growing real estate and home
furnishing and improvement sectors. Our user-friendly websites
support active online communities and networks of users seeking
information on, and other value-added services for, the real estate
and home-related sectors in China.
SouFun currently maintains about 100 offices to focus on local
market needs and its website and database contains real estate
related content covering more than 330 cities in China. For more information about SouFun,
please visit http://ir.soufun.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering
trading its securities that there can be no assurance that these
strategic cooperation agreements will be approved or the share
subscription transactions will be consummated. This news release
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"will," "expects," "is expected to," "anticipates," "aim,"
"future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "are likely to,"
"estimates," "may," "should" and similar expressions. Such
forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the
Company's plan to form strategic partnerships and collaborate and
explore Internet and real estate financing businesses with World
Union and Hopefluent, comments by management in this release about
the success and benefit of its strategic cooperation partnerships,
and about China's real estate
market. All statements other than statements of historical fact in
this press release are forward-looking statements and involve
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about the
Company and the industry in which the Company operates, but involve
a number of unknown risks and uncertainties. Further information
regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements to reflect subsequent occurring events or circumstances,
or changes in its expectations, except as may be required by law.
Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in
these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure
you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and actual
results may differ materially from the anticipated results. You are
urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the
forward-looking statements contained herein and are cautioned not
to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which
are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Mr. Hong Zhao
Vice President - Finance
SouFun Holdings Limited
Phone: +86-10-5631-8707
Email: hongzhao@soufun.com
Ms. Yiwen Zhang
Investor Relations Manager
SouFun Holdings Limited
Phone: +86-10-5631 8659
E-mail: zhangyiwen@soufun.com
SOURCE SouFun Holdings Limited