CHINA REAL ESTATE (NASDAQ:CRIC)

SHANGHAI, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Real Estate Information Corporation ("CRIC" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CRIC), a leading provider of real estate information, consulting and online services in China, today announced that, at the extraordinary general meeting of the Company's shareholders (the "EGM") held earlier today, shareholders voted in favor of approving and adopting the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated December 28, 2011 (the "Merger Agreement"), among the Company, E-House (China) Holdings Limited ("E-House") (NYSE: EJ), an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and CRIC (China) Holdings Limited ("Merger Sub"), an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and a wholly owned subsidiary of E-House. Shareholders holding approximately 95.23% of the Company's total outstanding ordinary shares voted in person or by proxy at the EGM. Based on the final tabulation, CRIC's shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the merger with (i) approximately 99.95% of the ordinary shares present in person or by proxy at the EGM and (ii) approximately 89.53% of the Company's total outstanding ordinary shares other than those held directly or indirectly by E-House, held in the Company's treasury or issued to the Company's depositary and reserved for future share incentive grants, voting in favor of the proposal to approve and adopt the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby.

Completion of the merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. The Company will work with E-House to satisfy all other conditions precedent to the merger set forth in the Merger Agreement and complete the merger as quickly as possible. When completed, the merger will result in CRIC becoming a private company and a wholly owned subsidiary of E-House. In addition, CRIC's American depositary shares ("ADSs"), each representing one CRIC ordinary share, would cease to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

SHANGHAI, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Real Estate Information Corporation ("CRIC" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CRIC), a leading provider of real estate information, consulting and online services in China, today announced that it has called an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the "EGM"), to be held on April 19, 2012 beginning at 10:30 a.m. (Shanghai time) at Room 505, 5/F, Wenwu Building, No. 383 Guangyan Road, Shanghai 200072, People's Republic of China, to consider and vote on the proposal to adopt the previously announced agreement and plan of merger (the "Merger Agreement"), dated December 28, 2011, by and among E-House (China) Holdings Limited ("E-House"), an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, CRIC (China) Holdings Limited ("Merger Sub"), an exempted company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and a wholly owned subsidiary of E-House, and CRIC. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, subject to the approval of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby by CRIC shareholders at the EGM, Merger Sub will be merged with and into CRIC (the "Merger"), with CRIC continuing as the surviving entity and as a wholly owned subsidiary of E-House.

If the Merger is completed, CRIC will become a privately held company, its American depositary shares ("ADSs") will no longer be listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, the American Depositary Shares program for the ADSs will terminate and the ADSs and CRIC shares will cease to be registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company's board of directors, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the special committee of the Company's board of directors comprised of CRIC directors unaffiliated with E-House or Merger Sub, approved the Merger Agreement and the Merger and resolved to recommend that the Company's shareholders vote to approve the Merger Agreement and the Merger.

Holders of the Company's ordinary shares, par value $0.0002 per share, of record on the close of business on April 5, 2012 (U.S. Eastern Time) or their proxy holders are entitled to vote at the EGM or any adjournment or postponements thereof. ADS holders as of the close of business on March 21, 2012 (U.S. Eastern Time) are entitled to instruct JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., the ADS depositary, how to vote the ordinary shares represented by the ADSs. Additional information regarding the EGM, the Merger, the Merger Agreement and how to vote ordinary shares or how to direct JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. to vote the ordinary shares represented by ADSs at the EGM can be found in the EGM notice included in a current report on Form 6-K by CRIC, a transaction statement on Schedule 13E-3 by CRIC and a registration statement on Form F-4 (which includes the proxy statement/prospectus relating to the Merger and the Merger Agreement) by E-House, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which can be obtained from the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov)

Fourth Quarter 2011 Highlights

• Total revenues increased 17% year-over-year to $73.2 million. Online revenues grew 83% year-over-year to$46.0 million, while offline revenues decreased 27% year-over-year to $27.2 million.
• Non-GAAP(1) net income attributable to CRIC shareholders was $1.8 million, or $0.01 per diluted American depositary share ("ADS"), compared to $17.3 million, or $0.12 per diluted ADS, for the same quarter of 2010.

Mr. Zhou continued, "Looking into 2012, we will continue to expand our integrated online-to-offline ("O2O") services, which distinguish us in this challenging environment. In addition, as part of our strategy to push further into the secondary real estate market at the most opportune time, we plan to leverage our online resources to launch a new online secondary brokerage franchise platform that combines online and offline information as well as real and virtual brokerage stores. The platform will also allow cross-selling opportunities between new and secondary real estate. Despite the challenges we face in the current market, we remain confident in our business strategies as well as in the future of the industry."

"2011 was a year of investments for CRIC," said Bin Laurence, CRIC's CFO. "We introduced keyword searching to real estate advertising through our expanded cooperation with Baidu, and launched the real estate O2O brand 'EJU' and website www.eju.com. As a result, we incurred higher than expected costs toward the second half of the year. During the fourth quarter, our expenses also increased as a result of merger-related professional fees, heavy marketing for our O2O EJU brand and website, and expenses related to year-end, nationwide marketing conferences. In addition, with our online revenues more than doubling in 2011, we increased our work force substantially, which resulted in higher salary and benefit expenses as well as higher office rental and other related expenses. We will continue to expand our business in 2012 while placing added emphasis on controlling costs and improving productivity. With the infrastructure for our new business initiatives largely in place, we expect narrowed increases in expenses this year."

SHANGHAI, December 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Real Estate Information Corporation ("CRIC" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CRIC), a leading provider of real estate information, consulting and online services in China, today announced that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, datedDecember 28, 2011 (the "Merger Agreement"), with E-House (China) Holdings Limited ("E-House") (NYSE: EJ), a Cayman Islands company and the majority shareholder of the Company, and CRIC (China) Holdings Limited ("Merger Sub"), a newly-formed Cayman Islands company and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of E-House. Upon the successful consummation of the transaction contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Company and the Company will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of E-House (the "Merger").

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereof, at the effective time of the Merger, each of the Company's ordinary shares ("CRIC shares") issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Merger (including CRIC shares represented by American depositary shares ("CRIC ADSs"), each of which represents one CRIC share) will be cancelled in exchange for the right to receive cash consideration of $1.75, without interest, plus, in the case of each CRIC share (not including CRIC shares represented by CRIC ADSs), 0.6 E-House ordinary shares ("E-House shares"), or, in the case of each CRIC share represented by a CRIC ADS, 0.6 E-House American depositary shares ("E-House ADSs"), each of which represents one E-House share. The consideration to be received by CRIC shareholders in the Merger represents an increase by E-House of $0.15 (from $1.60 to $1.75) of the cash portion of the consideration per CRIC share and CRIC ADS initially proposed in the previously announced non-binding proposal E-House delivered to the Company's board of directors on October 28, 2011.

Notwithstanding the consideration generally payable to CRIC shareholders in the Merger, CRIC shares (including CRIC shares represented by CRIC ADSs) that at the effective time of the Merger are (1) beneficially owned by E-House, Merger Sub, or any wholly-owned subsidiaries of CRIC, (2) issued to the depositary bank which maintains CRIC's American depositary share program and reserved for future grants under CRIC's share incentive plan, or (3) held by CRIC in treasury either in the form of CRIC shares or CRIC ADSs (collectively, the "Excluded CRIC Shares") will be cancelled in the Merger and no consideration will be delivered or deliverable in exchange therefor, and each CRIC share owned by shareholders who have validly exercised and have not effectively withdrawn or lost their appraisal rights under the Cayman Islands Companies Law, as amended, will be cancelled for the appraised or agreed value under the Cayman Islands Companies Law.

The Company's board of directors, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the special committee formed by the Company's board of directors (the "Special Committee"), approved the Merger Agreement and the Merger and resolved to recommend that the Company's shareholders vote to approve the Merger Agreement and the Merger. The Special Committee, which is composed solely of CRIC directors unrelated to E-House or Merger Sub, negotiated the terms of the Merger Agreement with the assistance of its financial and legal advisors.

In addition to certain other customary closing conditions, the Merger is subject to the approval of the Merger Agreement and the Merger by an affirmative vote of shareholders representing (1) two-thirds or more of the ordinary shares present and voting in person or by proxy at a meeting of the Company's shareholders which will be convened to consider the approval of the Merger Agreement and the Merger, and (2) a majority of the outstanding CRIC shares (other than the Excluded CRIC Shares). E-House currently owns approximately 54.1% of the outstanding CRIC shares and has advised the Company's board of directors that it intends to vote in favor of the approval of the Merger Agreement and the Merger. The Company currently expects the Merger to close around the middle of 2012. However, there can be no assurance that the Merger will be completed by or around the middle of 2012 or at all. If completed, the Merger will result in the Company becoming a privately-held and wholly-owned subsidiary of E-House and CRIC ADSs will no longer be listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to the Special Committee. Shearman & Sterling LLP is serving as U.S. legal advisor to the Special Committee.

O'Melveny & Myers LLP is serving as U.S. legal advisor to the Company and Maples and Calder is serving asCayman Islands legal advisor to the Company. Latham & Watkins LLP is serving as U.S. legal advisor to Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.

Third Quarter 2011 Results

SHANGHAI, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- China Real Estate Information Corporation ("CRIC" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: CRIC), a leading provider of real estate information, consulting and online services in China, and Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, announced today that they have entered into a new strategic partnership agreement.

Under the agreement, CRIC will become Baidu's premier strategic online real estate partner and will have the exclusive right to sell Baidu's real estate brandlink product, which is one form of keyword advertising, during the next three years. In addition, the two companies will continue their previous cooperation in several other Baidu products, including Baidu Website Promotion, Baidu Encyclopedia, Baidu Knows and Baidu Map, to further expand the online search-based advertising market for the real estate industry.

The new agreement expands the agreements previously entered in 2010. In February of 2010, the two companies signed cooperation agreements for a series of Baidu web products. Further, in May of 2010, CRIC obtained the exclusive right to build and operate Baidu's online real estate channels for the following four years. Starting in August of 2010, CRIC successfully built and launched the Baidu Leju new home, secondary home and home renting channels. CRIC will continue launching additional online real estate related channels on www.baidu.com, including the Baidu Leju home furnishing channel, under the 2010 agreements.

First Quarter Results:

• Total revenues for the first quarter of 2011 increased 55% year-over-year to $42.0 million, from $27.2 million for the same quarter of 2010, and exceeded the high end of the Company's guidance range of $39 million to $41 million.
• Non-GAAP(1) income from operations for the first quarter of 2011 was $5.8 million, compared to $9.7 million for the same quarter of 2010. CRIC's first quarter operating income was unfavorably impacted by the Company's spending in several new and expanded real estate channels, including the Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu") channels, commercial real estate channel and secondary home channel, compared with the same quarter of 2010.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to CRIC shareholders for the first quarter of 2011 was $7.0 million, compared to $10.3 million for the same quarter of 2010.
• Non-GAAP diluted net income per American depositary share ("ADS") for the quarter was $0.05.

"We continued to deliver fast growth in our total revenues in the first quarter of 2011, especially in revenues from our online business, which more than doubled compared to the same period of last year and accounted for almost half of our total revenues. This strong momentum was driven by our gains in market share in existing cities, improved brand awareness, gradual maturity of business in newly entered cities and our new and expanded online real estate channels," said Xin Zhou, CRIC's CEO and co-chairman.　

CRIC estimates that its total revenues for the second quarter of 2011 will be in the range of $52 million to $54 million, compared to $37.4 million in the same quarter of 2010. Total revenues estimate includes estimated revenues from real estate information and consulting services and other services of $23 million to $24 million, compared to $23.1 million in the same quarter of 2010, and estimated revenues from real estate online services of $29 million to $30 million, compared to $14.3 million in the same quarter of 2010. The above forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

Earnings Recap:

Reported 2010 fourth quarter EPS of $0.12, which were in line with estimates.  Guides 2011 first quarter revenues to come in at around $40 million, exceeding analyst projections of about $31 million. Report looked good all around. How can you not track an online provider of information (real estate). While EPS growth has not been exciting in recent quarters, the company may be about to enter an extended EPS growth cycle.  Also announces share buy back. Guides 2011 first quarter revenues to come in at around $40 million, exceeding analyst projections of about $31 million. Report looked good all around.  Stock has been weak, likely due to negative stigma surrounding the PRC real estate market. Placing the stock on the GeoBargain on the Radar list as we pull SAIC filings.

See outlook

See earnings review of all ChinaHybrids on our Blog.

Fourth Quarter Highlights:

• Total revenues for the fourth quarter increased 51% year-over-year to $62.4 million, exceeding the high end of the Company's guidance range of $56 million to $58 million.
• Non-GAAP(1) income from operations increased 15% year-over-year to $22.0 million.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to CRIC shareholders was $17.3 million for the quarter, compared to $17.8 million in the same quarter of 2009.
• Non-GAAP diluted earnings per American depositary share ("ADS") for the quarter were $0.12.

"2010 was a volatile year for China's real estate industry, with multiple rounds of government policies designed to slow down the growth in the domestic real estate market," said Mr. Xin Zhou, CRIC's co-chairman and CEO. "In spite of this, CRIC managed to deliver the targeted growth for our online segment and our information and consulting and other services segments. We also made several important strategic moves. First, we expanded our services geographically from 86 cities at the end of 2009 to 138 cities at the end of 2010, most of which are tier two, three and four cities in China. Second, we established ourselves as a real estate service provider for the entire real estate service value chain by expanding beyond our residential services and into tourism and commercial real estate online and information and consulting services. Furthermore, we distinguished ourselves by opening up our platform to strategic partners. Over the next few years, we will be able to leverage both the strength of SINA's media and Weibo platforms and also Baidu's leading search platform. These strategic moves have laid down a strong foundation that will allow CRIC to continue to grow despite the overall volatile real estate market environment."  

Mr. Zhou continued, "Looking into 2011, we expect our information and consulting services and other services will maintain stable growth while our online services will continue to grow at a fast pace that is similar to last year's growth rate."

"I am also pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has approved a $50 million stock repurchase program," Mr. Zhou added. "The board's decision to buy back CRIC's shares reflects our firm belief that our shares are presently undervalued and represents a sound investment decision at recent trading prices. We are confident in our ability to successfully execute our business strategies and in the growth prospects of our business, and we believe this repurchase program is in the best interest of CRIC and our shareholders."

CRIC estimates that its total revenues for the first quarter of 2011 will be in the range of $39 million to $41 million, compared to$27.2 million in the same quarter of 2010.

Third Quarter 2010 Highlights

• Total revenues were $47.2 million for the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 104% compared to the third quarter of 2009, exceeding the high end of the Company's guidance range of $44 million to $46 million. Total revenues for the third quarter of 2010 included $19.1 million attributable to COHT, an increase of 99% compared to the third quarter of 2009. The remainder was $28.1 million, an increase of 22% compared to the same quarter of 2009.
  
• Net income attributable to CRIC shareholders was $6.6 million, or $0.04 per diluted ADS, for the third quarter of 2010, a decrease of 46% compared to the same quarter of 2009.
• Non-GAAP net income attributable to CRIC shareholders was $14.9 million, or $0.10 per diluted ADS, for the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 13% compared to the same quarter of 2009.

Mr. Xin Zhou, CRIC's co-chairman and CEO said, "Once again, CRIC delivered a very solid quarter with above-guidance total revenues. Our performance since the IPO has showed that we can grow our business consistently and at a fast pace despite the overall real estate market fluctuation. In particular, revenue for COHT, our online segment, was up 99%, one of the fastest growth rates in the industry.

"Operational-wise, during the third quarter, we continued adding subscribers to our real estate database, further diversified our client base for our real estate consulting business, and expanded our other advertising business. For the online segment we officially launched the new-home and secondary-home real estate channels on Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu")'s search website in the third quarter, allowing us to capture both search results-based and advertising-based online revenues. I am very proud that by leveraging CRIC's strength in real estate database and our strong team, we were able to build and operate these high-quality channels in such a short period of time. The combination of our SINA media-portal-oriented real estate channels and our Baidu search-oriented real estate channels has been very well received by our clients. During the third quarter, we also officially set up our joint venture with China Real Estate Research Association (CRERA) and China Real Estate Association (CREA), which will further strengthen our leadership in Chinese real estate data.

"Looking into 2011, our real estate information, consulting and other advertising segment will continue its stable growth, while our online segment will grow at a rate that is even faster than our year-to-date revenue growth of 68%."

Ms. Bin Laurence, CRIC's CFO, added, "CRIC achieved a healthy non-GAAP net income margin of 32% in the third quarter. Without the negative margin impact due to our investment in the Baidu channels, our net income margin would have been even higher. As our Baidu channels become more mature, we expect further margin improvement next year."

Business Outlook

The Company estimates that its revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 will be in the range of $56 million to $58 million, an increase of approximately 36% to 40% over the same quarter of 2009. The revenue estimate includes estimated revenues from real estate information, consulting and advertising segment of $35 million to $36 million, an increase of 27% to 31% over the same quarter of 2009, and estimated revenues from COHT (online real estate services segment) of $21 million to $22 million, an increase of 52% to 59%. This forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

Mr. Zhou concluded, "While the current market conditions will negatively impact E-House's transaction volume and financial results in the near term, we believe that these types of market volatilities present unique opportunities, as they enable us to more clearly demonstrate our ability to add value for our clients by helping them formulate and execute effective marketing and sales strategies. As demonstrated in the past, periods with market fluctuations and volatility were the best times for us to build up our project pipeline and increase our market share, providing the foundation for strong growth when market conditions improve. In fact, in the weeks since the announcement of the new policies, we have already intensified our dialogue with our developer clients and seen accelerated new project signing. Furthermore, our real estate information, consulting and online business, operated by CRIC, is less susceptible to short-term market volatilities. As demonstrated by the announced strategic cooperation agreement with Baidu, Inc. ( BIDU), we are continuing to execute our growth strategy by taking on new initiatives. Overall, we remain confident in the medium- and long-term growth of the Chinese real estate industry and our ability to deliver growth and value to our shareholders."

The Company estimates that its revenues for the second quarter of 2010 will be in the range of $36 million to $38 million, an increase of approximately 89% to 100% over the same quarter of 2009. The revenue estimate includes the estimated revenues from COHT of $13 million to $14 million. Second quarter revenues excluding those to be generated by COHT are estimated to be in the range of $23 million to $24 million, an increase of approximately 21% to 26% over the same quarter of 2009. This forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

China Real Estate Info (NASDAQ:CRIC) began trading this morning and is up strong out of the gates.  We are taking  a closer look at the story.  The Company has been experiencing EPS growth well in excess of the GeoTeam's 30% preferred minimum and looks like it has a fully taxed adjusted trailing EPS (ADR) of $1.18 However, we still need to factor in the merger with China Online Housing Technology Corporation that was predicated on the successful public offering of CRIC.  China Real Estate Info was a spin off from E-House China Holdings (NYSE:EJ)

China Online Housing, a subsidiary of Sina Corp. (NASDAQ:SINA), not only provides information and interactive services to online users, but also offers one of the largest online advertising platforms for real estate customers in China. The Company generates revenues primarily from online advertising.

The GeoTeam® has left a message with China Real Estate Info. Among other things, we need to confirm what the final fully diluted post merger ADR share count will be, a factor that can influence valuation scenarios. We will provide an update if warranted.