Businessweek

E-House (China) Holdings Limited operates as a real estate services company in China. The company’s clients include domestic and international real estate developers. Services The company provides the following types of services: primary real estate agency services, secondary real estate brokerage services, real estate information and consulting services, real estate online services, and other services, including real estate advertising services, real estate promotional event services, and real estate investment fund management. Primary Real Estate Agency Services The company’s principal business includes providing primary real estate agency services to real estate developers. The company develops a signature identity and brand that are distinctive to a project, establishing long-term awareness of the project among prospective purchasers in the primary market, and benefiting future sales in the secondary market. The company assembles profiles of typical buyers and select public relations and advertising companies to design the marketing materials and marketing venues based on the profiles. It has a nationwide ‘E-House Membership Club’ with approximately 2.3 million members, as of December 31, 2011. In 2011, the company provided primary real estate agency services for 443 projects in 101 cities in China. It has significantly expanded primary real estate agency services by forming strategic alliances with real estate developers such as Evergrande Real Estate Group; China Vanke Co., Ltd.; Shanghai Industrial Urban Development Group Limited; Star River Property Holding Limited; COFCO Property (Group) Co. Ltd.; Glorious Property Holding Limited; Greentown China Holdings Limited; Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd.; Gemdale (Group) Co., Ltd.; and Agile Property Holdings Ltd. Secondary Real Estate Brokerage Services The company provides secondary real estate brokerage services, including brokerage services for both sales and rentals. As of December 31, 2011, the company had a total of 92 stores, including 41 in Shanghai, 31 in Hangzhou, 8 in Ningbo, 3 in Jiaxing, 2 in Suzhou, 2 in Kunshan, 4 in Hong Kong and 1 in Macau. In 2011, the company facilitated 4,055 secondary real estate sales transactions and 7,172 secondary property rental transactions. The company’s secondary real estate brokerage services include offering advisory services on choices of properties, accompanying potential buyers on house viewing trips, drafting purchase contracts, negotiating price and other terms, providing preliminary proof of title, and coordinating with the notary, the bank, and the title transfer agency. The company provides its secondary real estate brokerage services using a lease-and-operate model. Real Estate Information and Consulting Services The company’s real estate information and consulting services are modified to meet the needs of developer clients at various stages of the project development and sales process and other clients with particular requests and needs. It provides real estate information and consulting services through China Real Estate Information Corporation (CRIC). Real Estate Information Services: The company provides two levels of real estate information services relying upon its CRIC system: data subscription services, in which the company markets and sell, on a subscription basis, the use of its CRIC system; and data integration services, which, in addition to access to the CRIC system, provide periodic research reports and analysis that suit the specific needs and requirements of individual clients. Real Estate Consulting Services: The company’s consulting services are modified to meet the needs of real estate developer clients at various stages of the project development and sales process and include services designed to help real estate developer clients formulate solutions to meet their specific needs and services designed to facilitate large-scale land or development project purchase and sale transactions. Real Estate Online Services The company operates a real estate Internet business in China that provides region-specific real estate news, information, property data, and