Online apartment rental platform Ziroom has acquired Bestbond, a China-based apartment chain backed by real estate marketing firm Everyday Network, for an undisclosed amount.
Founded in 2013, Bestbond provides a chain of branded apartments focused on affluent young renters. It manages more than 6,000 rooms and has provided its services to more than 20,000 customers across Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Suzhou.
The company had received $18.9m in a series A round led by Everyday Network in November 2017 at a reported valuation of about $95m, subsequently raising an undisclosed amount from private equity firm GoHigh Capital eight months later.
Ziroom expects the acquisition to allow it to expand in the centrally managed apartments sector. It recently established an integrated community housing project called Ziru Li, which includes 1,500 rooms to rent as well as office and retail space.
Founded by real estate agency Homelink in 2011, Ziroom was spun off in 2016. Telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund made a $500m direct investment in the company and bought $500m of shares from its founders in November 2019, according to the Wall Street Journal.