Baidu to Raise $3 Billion in Secondary HK Listing- PingWest

Baidu to Raise $3 Billion in Secondary HK Listing- PingWest

Baidu to Raise $3 Billion in Secondary HK Listing

March 19, 2021 4:03 am

Beijing (PingWest)—Chinese search engine giant Baidu announced that it will raise approximately HK$23.94 billion ($3.08 billion) in its upcoming secondary listing in Hong Kong at a price of HK$252 per share.

The internet giant plans to use part of the proceeds from the share sale to invest in its AI technology, including its AI cloud solutions, and autonomous driving platform Apollo.

According to the announcement, the stock will start trading on March 23, with the stock code "9888".

Baidu's chairman and chief executive officer Robin Li Yanhong holds approximately 57% of voting rights in the compan, according to the Post Hearing Information pack published on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website last week.

Baidu said it has been investing in AI since 2010 to improve search and advertising monetization, and has used its core AI technology engine Baidu Brain to develop new AI businesses.

The document stated that as of October 30, 2020, Baidu had the largest portfolio of AI patents and AI patent applications in China. Baidu's open AI platform, with its developer community of over 2.65 million members, is the largest open AI platform in China, based on the number of developers as of December 31, 2020.

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