Century Bridge Announces Exit from $178 Million Renhuai, China Residential Project And New Investment in $77 Million Xishui Project - Expanding Relationship with Renhuai JV Partner, Guizhou Chuangmeng

BEIJING and DALLAS, Oct. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Century Bridge Capital announced today that it has successfully exited and repatriated the proceeds from its joint venture investment in Renhuai, China.  Century Bridge closed on their investment in the $178 million, middle-income residential project in September 2018.   The joint venture encompassed the final three residential phases of an established existing project in Renhuai, China. Century Bridge also announced that it has invested in a $77 million middle-income, residential project in Xishui, China.  Both investments are joint ventures with Guizhou Chuangmeng Real Estate.

Renhuai is a county level city in the Guizhou Province and is known as "the city of Baijiu" in China for being home to the world's most valuable liquor brand – Kweichow Moutai.  Xishui is located 67 kilometers away from Renhuai. According to an article published in The Economist earlier this year, Baijiu is the most consumed spirit in the world as a result of its popularity in China, with drinkers spending approximately three times more each year on baijiu than they do on beer and roughly 15 times more than on wine. 

Commenting on the projects, Century Bridge CEO, Tom Delatour, noted, "The Renhuai opportunity allowed us to invest in a project supported by a strong local industry and establish our relationship with Guizhou Chuangmeng. The Xishui investment represented the opportunity to build on that relationship with our investment in the first phase of a planned three phase project consisting of thirteen high-rise buildings of 950 residential units, supporting retail, and 1,302 underground parking spaces." The first group of 242 units from the first four buildings commenced presales in early July 2019.

Century Bridge President, Wei Deng, added, "Our successful exit from the Renhuai investment in less than one year demonstrates the continuing value that comes from our on-the-ground presence in China and our understanding of the strength of the local economies that support demand for our investments.  Based on the success of the Renhuai project and the collaborative relationship we have developed with Guizhou Chuangmeng, we are confident that we will also benefit from their intimate knowledge of the region as we work together in developing and marketing the Xishui project."

Xishui Investment - KEY FACTS

• Xishui is located 67 kilometers away from Renhuai, where Century Bridge's initial investment with Chuangmeng is located, and sits at the north edge of Guizhou Province, within driving distance to bigger cities such as Chongqing and Chengdu to the northeast and northwest. In 2018 Xishui's GDP grew 11.9%, surpassing the national growth rate of 6.6%.
• Residential demand driver – Xishui's biggest industry and employer is its baijiu brand, Xijiu, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kweichow Moutai, the most famous baijiu in China and one of the biggest liquor producers in the world. Expanding capacity to meet growing demand, Moutai has pledged to invest RMB 15 billion over the next three years in Xishui. Moutai is also investing another RMB 7.6 billion over five years in expanding Xishui's existing production facilities. We believe these upcoming investments in Xishui will also increase jobs and support urban population growth and housing demand.
• Central Location – The project is located on a favorable and mature site in Xishui City, within walking distance to the commercial downtown and a few minutes' drive to the government department area, with several attractive amenities surrounding the site.
• Amenities and Transportation – The site is within walking distance to most daily amenities such as schools, bus stations, a hospital and parks, as well as the commercial downtown area of Xishui and within a short drive to the newer government area further north. The site will be directly across the street from one of the best elementary schools and one of the best high schools in Xishui. A new 2.5 million square meter public park (the biggest in town) for future nearby residents to enjoy will be located across from the site to the north.
• Personal Income Growth – Average per capita disposable income grew at an annual rate of 9.2% from 2017 to 2018 compared to 7.8% nationally, and the housing price-to-income ratio in Xishui is estimated at a reasonable affordability level of 4.7 to 5.9.
• Joint Venture Partner – The project is being developed by a joint venture of Century Bridge and Guizhou Chuangmeng Real Estate.
• Development – The $77 million project includes above-ground, gross buildable area of 146,358 square meters/1,575,397 square feet on a site of 48,484 square meters/521,882 square feet.
• Residential – Will comprise approximately 125,398 square meters/1,349,784 square feet, representing approximately 85.7% of above ground, gross buildable area.

Century Bridge is a private equity firm with offices in Beijing, China and Dallas, Texas.  The firm is focused exclusively on investment in the middle-income, residential real estate sector in China's growing Tier 2 and 3 cities.  

www.centurybridge.com

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