City Developments Limited (CDL) will invest HK$237.81 million ($41.4 million) in China’s data-based real estate agency E-House, which has filed to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the end of this month.

The only company from Singapore invited to be a cornerstone investor in this initial public offering (IPO), CDL joins several top Chinese developers including China Evergrande Group, China Vanke and Country Garden Holdings, which are existing shareholders of E-House. The other cornerstone investors participating in the IPO include e-commerce giant Alibaba.

E-House, established in 2000 as a real estate transaction service provider, has a geographic footprint spanning 186 cities across 30 provinces in China. Its extensive network comprises more than 17,000 sales agents. Its main businesses comprise real estate agency services firm in the primary market, E-House Marketing; real estate data consultancy CRIC, and real estate brokerage network services firm Fangyou.

E-House’s key business of marketing residential projects generated a revenue of RMB3.9 billion ($800,000 million) in 2017, making it the largest real estate agency service provider in the primary market in China.

Sherman Kwek, CDL group CEO, says: “In view of the increasing demand for overseas properties among Chinese investors, we see strong potential in E-House’s growth. As it expands not only in China but also globally, we will be able to leverage its network, platform and expertise for CDL’s residential projects in various countries.”