BEIJING, Oct. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IFM Investments
Limited (NYSE: CTC) ("Century 21 China Real Estate" or the
"Company"), a leading comprehensive real estate services provider
and the exclusive franchisor for the CENTURY 21® brand in
China, today announced that it has
entered into strategic cooperation agreements with SouFun Holdings
Limited (NYSE: SFUN) "SouFun"), the leading real estate Internet
platform in China.
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Pursuant to the strategic cooperation agreements: 1) Century 21
China and SouFun will form a mutually preferred strategic
partnership across their business lines, including advertising,
e-commerce, listings services, internet and real estate financing,
and secondary and primary brokerage services; 2) Century 21 China
Real Estate will issue new shares to SouFun in a private placement
for 20% of the Company's outstanding share capital immediately
after the completion of the private placement; 3) Century 21 China
will issue a convertible bond to SouFun to support the Company's
operational needs and SouFun will also grant a loan to the
Company's founders via IFM Overseas Partners L.P. to refinance an
earlier loan borrowed from GL Asia Mauritius II Cayman Ltd.. The
aggregate consideration from SouFun for this strategic cooperation
amounts to approximately US$51
million. Upon the closing of the transaction, SouFun will be
the second-largest shareholder of the Company on a fully diluted
basis. The closing of the transaction is subject to the customary
closing conditions for transactions of this type.
"These agreements with China's
preeminent online real estate player are a major step forward for
Century 21 China Real Estate as we look to shape our business for
the future," said Donald Zhang,
chairman and chief executive officer of Century 21 China Real
Estate. "By combining our unrivaled on-the-ground knowledge with
SouFun's well-established platform, we will be uniquely positioned
to offer today's buyers and sellers a truly integrated O2O
experience. SouFun's online strength will facilitate the upgrading
of our franchise model, equipping our agents with better tools and
systems to provide more integrated services to our customers, and
allowing us to further expand the Century 21 China Real Estate
franchise network."
About Century 21 China Real Estate
IFM Investments Limited ("Century 21 China Real Estate" or
"CTC") is a leading comprehensive real estate services provider and
the exclusive franchisor for the CENTURY 21® brand in China. CTC primarily focuses on China's fast-growing and highly fragmented
secondary real estate market, providing company-owned brokerage
services, franchise services, mortgage management services, primary
services, commercial services and fund management services. CTC has
experienced substantial growth since it commenced operations in
2000, and received numerous awards and recognition as franchisor
and real estate services provider for its service quality and
business achievements. Century 21 China Real Estate became a public
company in January 2010 and its ADSs,
each of which represents 45 ordinary shares of CTC, currently trade
on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CTC". For more
information about CTC, please visit
http://www.century21cn.com/english.
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.fang.com.
Safe Harbor: Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section
21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"aim," "anticipate," "believe," "confident," "continue,"
"estimate," "expect," "future," "intend," "is currently reviewing,"
"it is possible," "likely," "may," "plan," "potential," "will" or
other similar expressions or the negative of these words or
expressions. The Company has based these forward-looking statements
largely on its current expectations and projections about future
events and financial trends that it believes may affect its
financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and
financial needs. The Company may also make written or oral
forward-looking statements in its reports filed or furnished with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in press releases and
other written materials and in oral statements made by its
officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that
are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's
beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements and are
subject to change, and such change may be material and may have a
material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition and
results of operations for one or more periods. Forward-looking
statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of
important factors could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contained, either expressly or impliedly, in any of the
forward-looking statements in this press release. Potential risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks
outlined in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F and other
documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Unless otherwise specified, all information provided in this press
release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press
release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to
update any such information, except as required under applicable
law.
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For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
In China:
Steve
Ye
CFO
IFM Investments Limited
Phone: +86-10-6561-7788
E-mail: ir@century21cn.com
Nick Beswick
Brunswick Group
Phone: +86-10-5960-8600
Email: ctc@brunswickgroup.com
In the United
States:
Cindy
Zheng
Brunswick
Group
Phone:
+1-212-333-3810
Email: ctc@brunswickgroup.com
SOURCE Century 21 China Real Estate (IFM Investments
Limited)