Telstra to quit Chinese real estate web play

Telstra to quit Chinese real estate web play for about US413.1 million

Aug. 13 (BusinessDesk) - Telsta Corporation is quitting its 51% stake in SouFun, China's second-largest online real estate website, for about US$413.1 million (NZ$579.4 million).

The Australian telco says private equity firms General Atlantic and Apax Partners and the two existing shareholders of SouFun (founder Vincent Mo and venture capital firm IDG), have agreed to buy any of Telstra's shares in SouFun which aren't sold through a public float up to an agreed maximum price.

If the proposed float isn't completed within a specified time, those parties have agreed to buy Telstra's entire shareholding at a price based on SouFun being valued at US$810 million, the Australian phone company says.

It didn't say what the agreed maximum price was or what the specified time frame is.

Telstra paid US$254 million for its SouFun stake in 2006.

According to Reuters, SouFun covers 104 Chinese cities and has 20 million registered users and competes against market leader China Real Estate Information Corporation which raised US$216 million in October 2009 in a float on the US-based Nasdaq exchange.

Telstra shares last traded at $3.77, up 4 cents on yesterday, on the NZX exchange.

(BusinessDesk)

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