What’s new: ByteDance Inc. has acquired a 20% stake in Beijing Maitian Real Estate Brokerage Co. Ltd., both companies confirmed to Caixin, marking the TikTok owner’s latest push into China’s rental property market.
The move comes after ByteDance successfully obtained a real estate broker’s license in late September by having a wholly owned subsidiary take a 100% stake in Beijing Fuwang Real Estate Agency Co. Ltd., a unit of Maitian.
The background: Last week, Chinese online outlet The Paper reported that ByteDance was in discussions with investors on a cash infusion to spin off its real estate listings and deals service Xingfuli, and have it operate alongside TikTok and news platform TouTiao. The spinoff will help the Beijing tech giant streamline its operations and focus on core businesses as growth slows, the report said.
The stake in Maitian could help ByteDance expand Xingfuli’s offline store operations.
Maitian offers real estate rental and sales services to high-end customers from more than 900 company-run outlets in Beijing and the coastal cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian province, according to its website.
ByteDance, which has been working to diversify its revenue by expanding into gaming, health care and hardware, is entering a property market where national and local regulators are tightening oversight following high-profile collapses of developers which were unable to repay their debts.
In the last several months, the tech giant has also been setting up several companies to operate real estate brokering business. Its property push follows the collapse late last year of Danke Apartment, once one of China’s largest online apartment rental platforms.
Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)
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