Soho China, the Beijing-based property developer planning a Hong Kong initial public offering, will keep its focus on the capital city as it expects prices there to remain strong even after the Beijing Olympic Games next year.
'We have been looking around the country for business opportunities for years, but at the end of the day we feel nowhere else but Beijing could offer us safe and stable returns in the foreseeable future, as in the next three to five years,' chairman Pan Shiyi said.
Mr Pan said he did not rule out investing in other key mainland cities, but the size should be substantially smaller than in Beijing.
Soho China plans to raise up to US$1 billion from the offering to fund expansion and may start investor presentations as early as this week, sources said earlier.
Soho China's website said that 20 per cent of all property projects and 33 per cent of sales were in Beijing's central business district.
The company announced earlier this year that it bought a parcel measuring 470,000 square metres in Beijing's Sanlitun area, famous for its bars and restaurants.