Baidu poised to raise US$3.1b in Hong Kong offering

[HONG KONG] Chinese search engine Baidu raised US$3.1 billion in its Hong Kong share sale, sealing the latest in a string of blockbuster equity offerings in the financial hub.

The company priced its sale of 95 million shares at HK$252 each (S$43.6), according to a filing on Wednesday. That represents a nearly 3 per cent discount to Baidu's Tuesday closing price in New York of US$266.78.

One of Baidu's American depositary shares is equal to eight of the ordinary shares being listed in Hong Kong.

Nasdaq-listed Baidu follows online car-sales website Autohome in seeking a trading foothold in Hong Kong, after a wave of such share sales in 2020 which saw some US$17 billion raised. Other companies looking at selling shares in the city include Tencent Music Entertainment Group and video site Bilibili.

At US$3.1 billion, Baidu's listing is the biggest such homecoming of a US-traded Chinese company in Hong Kong since NetEase's June 2020 offering, which raised HK$24.3 billion. A growing cohort of Chinese firms have been seeking to expand their investor bases closer to home amid deteriorating relations between the world's two biggest economies.

The trend has boosted the listing volumes for Hong Kong's bourse, which now has a growing contingent of technology firms trading in the city. Globally, initial public offerings are on track for a record first quarter, thanks to a US-led boom in blank-cheque companies, even as volatility has increased in markets following concerns about rising inflation.

Once one of China's tech leaders, Baidu is now playing catch-up as the country's internet users increasingly shift from desktop to mobile. In recent years the company has spent billions of dollars in areas such as language learning and autonomous driving, betting on smart devices and vehicles of the future.

BLOOMBERG