(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- China’s Ziroom Life Enterprise Management has bought out fellow long-term apartment rental platform Bestbond to consolidate its grip on the sector.

The acquisition will help Beijing-based Ziroom give consumers more choice through a multi-brand strategy and enable it to further expand its network across China, said Ziroom, which is one of the country's largest housing rental platforms backed by major real estate brokerage Lianjia.

Nanjing-based Bestbond mainly targets younger white-collar workers. It manages 31 boutique apartments and over 5,000 rooms in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou.

The move comes despite rival Danke Apartment struggling to make ends meet as the Covid-19 pandemic upsets its business and its former chief executive officer becomes the subject of a government probe.

Operator Phoenix Tree Holdings was earlier this year taken to court by a number of landlords for asking them to forego one month’s rent during the pandemic, then refusing to return the equivalent in rental prepayments it had already received as loans from financial institutions. Fearing that bankruptcy looms, a number of landlords and tenants have asked to terminate their contracts early.

Editor: Kim Taylor