SouFun, the China-based operator of real estate portal Fang.com, is set to raise up to $1bn from IDG China Capital, a local investment affiliate of media company International Data Group, China Money Network reported yesterday.
US-based asset management firm Carlyle Group and SouFun’s management, led by chief executive and founder Vincent Mo, are also taking part in the round.
The investors have committed to spend half the money on purchasing newly issued American Depository Shares at $7.45 each (equivalent to $37.25 per class A share). The price is a 3% premium to the volume-weighted average trading price for 20 days leading up to August 6.
The other half will be issued as convertible notes, with an annual interest rate of 1.5%.
The money will enable SouFun to expand from being an online portal built around providing information to a platform that offers real estate financial services such as reselling, renting and home furnishing.
According to Crunchbase, SouFun secured $1m in series A funding from IDG in 1999 and raised a $5m series B round from investment firm Goldman Sachs in 2000, though both claims are unsourced and could not be verified.
A company filing listing SouFun’s shareholders names IDG (with a 2.8% stake), conglomerate Fosun International (4.4%), and financial services firm Fidelity Management & Research (2.5%), as well as several investment and venture capital firms. Goldman Sachs is not listed as a shareholder.
SouFun began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2010.