Baidu Raises USD3.1 Billion in Hong Kong's Secondary Listing - PingWest

Baidu Raises USD3.1 Billion in Hong Kong's Secondary Listing

Baidu Raises USD3.1 Billion in Hong Kong's Secondary Listing

March 24, 2021 9:30 am

Beijing (PingWest)- Chinese search engine giant Baidu made a debut in a secondary listing in Hong Kong on Tuesday after completing its HKD23.7 billion stock offering.

Baidu’s shares start trading at opening price of HKD254 per share, the company has raised USD3.1 billion in total, which is USD500 million less than the firm had initially targeted.

On Tuesday, Baidu CEO Robin Li said that the net proceed would be used to invest in technologies like artificial intelligence-based operating systems, semiconductor chips, and an autonomous driving platform.

He also said the returning to Hong Kong was a homecoming for the company.

“When Baidu made a debut on Nasdaq, I said Nasdaq was just one of our footsteps. China is our starting point and root; Baidu would come back to China eventually. Today, we achieved our wish and we are home.” Li said.

In January, Baidu announced to partner with Chinese automaker Geely to form a new electric-vehicle company. Baidu said the new EV company will count on Baidu’s intelligent driving system Apollo and Geely’s car manufacturing expertise and EV modular platform-Sustainable Experience Architecture.

Baidu established its autonomous driving system Apollo in 2017, and it has completed the most road test for autonomous vehicles in Beijing in 2020, which is the third consecutive year in which Baidu has retained its leading position.

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