Greenland Group to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange after a hugely successful 2014

Greenland Group, the world’s third fastest growing company and a global leader in property, resources, finance, construction and hotels, has announced it will list its state-owned property development company, Greenland Holding Group Co Ltd, on China’s domestic A-share market this year.

The Australian arm of the group is currently working on four major Australian property projects, including its landmark Greenland Centre Sydney – Sydney’s tallest residential tower.

The announcement comes after Greenland Group released its 2014 Business Performance report, detailing record highs and strong growth momentum in its real estate business despite China’s slowing economy and property industry.

The company achieved 402.1 billion yuan in 2014 and is planning on revenues of up to 450 billion yuan in 2015, significantly driven by its real estate industry revenue, which increased by 50 per cent to 240.8 billion yuan, making Greenland Group China’s fastest growing company and the third fastest in the world.

Overseas income also increased by a staggering 467% to 15.3 billion yuan – a clear result of the Group’s rapid expansion strategy.

The report showed residential real estate accounted for 111.2 billion yuan in revenue, up 20% from the previous year, while the Group’s commercial real estate ventures accounted for 129.6 billion yuan, up 90%. Pre-sale areas increased by 30% to 21.15 million square metres.

Greenland has now commenced diversifying its existing real estate business to include multiple streams of revenue designed to further grow the company, form the new business structure and create new revenue streams. These will include:

  1. Metro industry – Greenland will launch three new metro projects including Xuzhou subway line 3, Nanjing subway line 5 and the Chongqing railway transit project.
  2. Consumption goods – the group has opened the first physical boutique supermarket (a high-end version of Australia’s Woolworths and Coles) in Shanghai, with plans to rapidly expand the number of stores. Plans are already in place to set-up a global goods purchase centre (location TBC).
  3. Financial industry – Greenland is in the process of creating a financial conglomerate to include the establishment of small-loan companies and security exchange, small loans and real estate financing, investment funds and IPO direct investment.

Currently ranked 268 in the Global Fortune 500, Greenland’s diversification strategy and plan to list its A-shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange will see it continuing to strengthen its global position. The listing is likely to make Greenland the first property company to go public on a Chinese mainland exchange since listing approvals for real estate firms were put on hold in 2010 due to soaring home prices.

China recently allowed foreign investors access to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for the first time – allowing investors access to mainland shares via companies also listed in Hong Kong. Last year, Greenland completed a backdoor listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, joining mainland developers hunting for opportunities overseas as regulators cool the domestic property market.

In 2015, Greenland will take over the Shanghai-listed Jinfeng Investment for 65.5 billion yuan ($US10.7 billion) in exchange for 11.3 billion new Jinfeng shares at 5.58 yuan each to obtain a backdoor listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Jinfeng Investment and Greenland are both state-owned companies.

The asset swap deal is part of Shanghai’s increasing efforts to make its state-owned enterprises more profitable, efficient and market-based, in keeping with China’s reform agenda.

While the deal is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval from the securities regulator and the state-owned asset authority, the reverse takeover will likely see Greenland expand its financing channels, boost its competitiveness and further increase its global growth rate.

For more information, please contact Kate Funnell at The Trish Nicol Agency on +2 9356 2711 or [email protected]