Baidu is set to raise more than $3bn in a Hong Kong stock market listing, marking the latest “homecoming” share sale by a Chinese technology group against a backdrop of tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The New York-traded search-engine company told investors on Wednesday that it expected to price shares for its Hong Kong secondary listing at HK$252 ($32.45) each, according to two people familiar with the matter. That represents a discount of about 2.7 per cent against the most recent closing level for its Nasdaq-listed American depositary receipts.
That would put Baidu on track to bring in at least $3.1bn. That could rise to more than $3.5bn if banks organising the listing deem that demand is strong enough to exercise a “green shoe” option.