Evergrande draws eight strategic investors for Shenzhen listing

China Evergrande Group, the country’s second-largest property developer, said it has introduced eight strategic investors to fund its back-door listing in Shenzhen.

The investors, who will contribute 30 billion yuan in total, will jointly own 13.16 per cent of the enlarged equity interest in Hengda Real Estate, a wholly owned subsidiary of Evergrande, according to a company filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. After the deal, Evergrande’s core real estate business would be valued at 228 billion yuan, more than four times its current valuation in Hong Kong, according to calculations by the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong-listed Evergrande has been actively seeking to shift its key real estate business to Shenzhen, where a higher valuation will make it easier for the debt-laden developer to raise funds.

In October last year, Evergrande said it will inject its assets in Hengda Real Estate into Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Real Estate & Properties (Shenzhen Real Estate), in return for shares, which will make Evergrande’s real estate unit into the controlling shareholder of the Shenzhen-listed company.

“The capital increase will serve to raise fund as well as to allow the group to maintain the public float of Shenzhen Real Estate upon completion of the proposed reorganisation,” said Hui Ka-yan, chairman of Evergrande in a company filing.

Evergrande has pledged strategic investors that the net profit of Hengda Real Estate for the three financial years of 2017, 2018 and 2019 shall not be less than 24.3 billion yuan, 30.8 billion yuan and 33.7 billion yuan respectively. Hengda Real Estate will distribute at least 60 per cent of its net profit to shareholders for each of the financial years.