(Yicai Global) Aug. 14 -- Shares in Evergrande Group were up 6 percent this afternoon on the news that the Chinese real estate giant has sold a 28 percent stake in its new property management spin-off firm for HKD23.5 billion (USD3 billion) ahead of a possible separate listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Evergrande's stock [HKG:3333] was trading around HKD22.80 (USD2.94) as of 3 p.m. today, with a market capitalization of HKD297 billion (USD38.3 billion). The Hang Seng Index, meanwhile, only managed a gain of 0.44 percent.

Fourteen strategic investors, among them affiliates of internet giant Tencent Holdings, private equity firms Yunfeng Capital and Sequoia Capital and lenders Agricultural Bank of China and China Everbright Bank, have bought into the new company with Evergrande owning the remaining 72 percent equity, the Guangzhou-based developer said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday.

“The strategic investment will introduce a number of renowned strategic investors to the Group’s Property Management Business, which will enhance the corporate profile and support the growth and development of the Property Management Business,” Evergrande said. The firm has valued its spin-off at not less than CNY75 billion (USD10.8 billion).

The firm’s property management unit's net profit skyrocketed nearly four-fold last year to CNY922.5 million (USD132.8 million) from 2018, Evergrande said. Revenue last year was up 7.6 percent year on year to CNY4.4 billion. It currently manages over 1,400 projects covering around 500 million square meters in more than 280 cities worldwide.

This is the latest in a slew of large Chinese property developers doing separate listings as they eye the huge gains made by the property management sector on the mainland and Hong Kong this year.

So far this year, 13 property management firms have submitted their IPO prospectus’, according to real estate consultancy firm CRIC Research Center. Rival Sunac China Holdings also submitted an application earlier this month to peel off Sunac Services Holdings for a separate listing in Hong Kong.

Editor: Kim Taylor