Property developer China Vanke has agreed to invest RMB3bn ($436m) in Lianjia, the China-based online real estate portal also known as Homelink, through a private placement, Reuters reported yesterday.
Lianjia began life in 2001 as a real estate agency but has grown significantly in recent years as it has developed an extensive property listings platform online while the value of China’s property market in general has grown considerably.
Vanke and Lianjia are already partners, having jointly launched home decoration service Wanlian in 2015. Vanke’s investment comes as part of an overall strategy to expand its services to include additional offerings surrounding the second hand property market.
The deal comes just three months after another domestic real estate developer, Sunac China Holdings, agreed to pay approximately $375m for a 6.25% stake in Lianjia.
Huasheng Capital, a subsidiary of merchant bank China Renaissance Partners, led the company’s $927m series B round in April 2016, investing alongside internet companies Tencent and Baidu, Source Code Capital, Hillhouse Capital and Matrix Partners China at a $6.2bn valuation post-money.