China developers unearth new gold mine in serving home owners
Some team up with internet giants such as Tencent and Baidu, while others prefer to go it alone
With new home sales expected to slow in the next decade, mainland developers are looking to find another gold mine in serving the families who own the homes they have built.
They know them well and can easily provide them with everything from food, education and health care to consumer loans.
Pioneers including Colour Life, the first listed entity to specialise in such services, have led the way and more developers are now following in their footsteps.
Evergrande Real Estate, China’s biggest developer in terms of area sold – 16.8 million square metres in the first nine months of this year – announced on Monday the completion of a back door listing in Hong Kong of its internet community service platform. The shell was Mascotte Holdings, previously a manufacturer of polysilicon.
Now renamed HengTen Networks, the new company is 55 per cent controlled by Evergrande and 20 per cent by mainland internet giant Tencent, through a HK$750.7 million share subscription.
Evergrande wants to initially install the platform in all communities it has developed, before eventually expanding to cover those built by other developers as well.
