soufun.com IPO Drawing Closer

Reports that top Chinese classifieds portal soufun.com was preparing for an initial public offering first surfaced at the end of last year, when some estimated a float of more than US$1 billion.

Now, sources have informed reuters.com that three banks are working on a deal with the portal. Estimates on the value of the IPO are now at $300 million.

reuters.com’s sources say JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS AG are working on the deal, but add that no final mandates have been given. Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Deutsche Bank AG are also reportedly vying for mandates.

soufun.com, which lists real estate amongst its classifieds, was the highest ranked website in the real estate category on Google’s June list of the 1,000 most visited websites on the Internet.

Australian telecommunications giant Telstra bought its 51 percent stake in soufun.com for $254 million in August 2006.

1. SouFun Preparing for IPO

   SouFun Holdings, Ltd., the company behind top Chinese classifieds portal soufun.com.cn, is preparing for an initial public offering planned for next year by majority stakeholder Telstra. Telstra, an Australian telecommunications giant, bought its 51 percent stake in SouFun for US$254 million in August 2006. According to the Wall Street Journal, Telstra plans to sell down its shareholding as part of the IPO, but is yet to decide where SouFun will list its stock....

2. Google Reveals Top Real Estate Sites

   Google has just released a list of the 1,000 most visited websites on the Internet, and the highest-ranked website in the real estate category is China's soufun.com. Overall, soufun.com came in at number 141 on the list, which is based on unique visitor numbers as measured by Google Ad Planner....

3. ComScore Global Top 10 Players

   We often report on the market leaders in each region, but who leads the global real estate race for web traffic?...