China's Baidu Conducts Demand Forecasting for Institutions... "3.6 Billion Dollar Fundraising"

Final Offering Price Confirmed on the 17th

Source: Nelson Qing

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Baidu, China's largest search portal, which is preparing for its secondary listing on the Hong Kong stock market, has started demand forecasting targeting institutional investors.

On the 11th (local time), according to US economic media CNBC and Bloomberg News, Baidu began accepting orders from institutional investors ahead of its Hong Kong stock market listing scheduled for the 23rd.

According to the securities registration statement Baidu submitted to the Hong Kong Securities Authority on the same day, the expected public offering price range is HKD 276 to 295. If set at the top end of HKD 295, it will raise up to USD 3.6 billion (approximately KRW 4 trillion).

The HKD 295 price reflects a 19% premium compared to the closing price on the New York Stock Exchange on the 10th.

Baidu will issue 95 million Class A common shares, and the final public offering price is scheduled to be announced before the market opens on the 17th.

The funds raised from this listing will be used for new businesses such as the commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI) products. As China’s largest search engine, Baidu is attempting business diversification by entering cloud services, autonomous driving, smart transportation, and AI sectors, after falling behind Alibaba and Tencent amid the mobile paradigm shift.

Robin Li, Baidu’s co-founder and chairman, said during a conference call after last month’s earnings announcement, "Cloud services, autonomous driving, smart transportation, and AI sectors will establish themselves as leading AI-related companies with a strong internet foundation to dominate huge markets."

Baidu’s net profit last year was 22.5 billion yuan, surging more than tenfold compared to the previous year (2.1 billion yuan).

Baidu, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at USD 272.38 on Nasdaq on the same day, up 6.76% from the previous session. Baidu’s stock price has surged 175% over the past year from USD 99 as of March 20 last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.