Danke and Beike, a tale of two similarly named NYSE-listed companies with vastly different business models and fortunes
- Danke has seen no respite since its cashflow troubles came to the fore, with its shares plummeting 75 per cent since listing in January
- Beike has posted profits in its first quarter after going public, with its shares tripling since debuting in August
What’s in a name? As it happens, a lot. At least for two similarly named New York-listed mainland Chinese companies with property-related businesses.
Danke, which means eggshells in the Chinese language, is one of them. The other is online property portal Beike, or shell. The two companies have the character “ke” in their Chinese names, which means hard outer covering in Chinese and is often used as a metaphor for homes in Chinese culture.
However, this is where the similarity ends. The duo have starkly different fortunes spanning the two ends of the spectrum.
Danke, an online home rental platform that is facing a liquidity crunch, cannot seem to shrug off the negative publicity hounding it. The platform, operated by Phoenix Tree Holdings, was back in the news when a 20-year-old graduate died on December 3 after falling from an 18th floor flat he had rented in Guangzhou in southern Guangdong province. Local media reports described it as a suicide.
Zhong Chunyuan, one of numerous tenants worried about being evicted by landlords who ended their contracts with Danke after the company missed payments, chose to end his life in the shoebox-sized flat after setting it on fire.