SHANGHAI, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- E-House
(China) Holdings Limited
("E-House" or the "Company") (NYSE: EJ), a leading real estate
services company in China, today
announced that it will, together with other shareholders, provide
additional capital for Shanghai Weidian Information and Technology,
Ltd. ("Weidian"), which provides mobile community value-added
services through the mobile app Shi Hui. As a result, registered
capital of Weidian will increase from approximately US$40 million to US$100 million. Weidian was
jointly founded by E-House, SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA), Focus
Media Holding Limited, and Shentong Express Co., Ltd. E-House has
and will retain a controlling stake of 55% in Weidian.
In July of 2014, E-House started its community value-added
services platform with the launch of Shi Hui, a local
community-based mobile app, in Beijing and Shanghai. Users download Shi Hui and select
their residential compounds, office buildings and/or schools and
can win promotional products and free services on a daily basis,
find nearby restaurants, stores and other service providers, obtain
discount coupons, join discounted group purchases, and participate
in chat groups with people in the same communities.
In its first four months, the Shi Hui app has gained more than
1.25 million registered users in Beijing and Shanghai, 20% to 30% of which are daily active
users. The Shi Hui app currently aggregates more than 400,000
service providers in Beijing and
Shanghai, out of which over
100,000 are verified service providers. In addition, during the
same period more than 3,700 service providers have signed up to
offer Shi Hui users free products and services worth a total value
of more than US$160 million.
Xin Zhou, E-House's co-chairman
and CEO, said, "The remarkable success of Shi Hui since its launch
in Beijing and Shanghai gives us strong confidence in its
national expansion. With the additional capital injection into
Weidian, we plan to launch the Shi Hui app for an additional eight
cities, namely Guangzhou,
Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an,
Chongqing and Suzhou, by the end
of this year."
About E-House
E-House (China) Holdings
Limited ("E-House") (NYSE: EJ) is China's leading real estate services company
with a nationwide network covering more than 250 cities. E-House
offers a wide range of services to the real estate industry,
including online advertising, primary sales agency, secondary
brokerage, information and consulting, offline advertising and
promotion and real estate investment management services. E-House
has received numerous awards for its innovative and high-quality
services, including "China's Best
Company" from the National Association of Real Estate Brokerage and
Appraisal Companies and "China Enterprises with the Best Potential"
from Forbes. For more information about E-House, please visit
http://www.ehousechina.com.
Safe Harbor: Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. These forward-looking statements can be identified by
terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "may," "intend,"
"confident," "is currently reviewing," "it is possible," "subject
to" and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from
management in this press release, as well as E-House's strategic
and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. E-House
may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its
reports filed or furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, including Forms 20-F and 6-K, in its annual report to
shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in
oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to
third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including
statements about E-House's beliefs and expectations, are
forward-looking statements and are subject to change.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained, either expressly
or impliedly, in any of the forward-looking statements in this
press release. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, a severe or prolonged downturn in the global
economy, E-House's susceptibility to fluctuations in the real
estate market of China, government
measures aimed at China's real
estate industry, failure of the real estate services industry in
China to develop or mature as
quickly as expected, diminution of the value of E-House's brand or
image, E-House's inability to successfully execute its strategy of
expanding into new geographical markets in China, E-House's failure to manage its growth
effectively and efficiently, E-House's failure to successfully
execute the business plans for its strategic alliances and other
new business initiatives, E-House's loss of its competitive
advantage if it fails to maintain and improve its proprietary CRIC
system or to prevent disruptions or failure in the system's
performance, E-House's failure to compete successfully,
fluctuations in E-House's results of operations and cash flows,
E-House's reliance on a concentrated number of real estate
developers, natural disasters or outbreaks of health epidemics and
other risks outlined in E-House's filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press
release is current as of the date of this press release, and
E-House does not undertake any obligation to update any such
information, except as required under applicable law.
For investor and media inquiries please contact:
In China:
Ms. Michelle Yuan
Director of Investor Relations
E-House (China) Holdings
Limited
Phone: +86 (21) 6133-0754
E-mail: michelleyuan@ehousechina.com
Mr. Derek Mitchell
Ogilvy Financial, Beijing
Phone: +86 (10) 8520-6139
E-mail: ej@ogilvy.com
In the United States:
Mr. Justin Knapp
Ogilvy Financial, U.S.
Phone: +1 (616) 551-9714
E-mail: ej@ogilvy.com
SOURCE E-House (China) Holdings
Limited