China’s Baidu to sell around 4% of shares in Hong Kong listing: Report

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc will launch its Hong Kong secondary listing on Friday and will sell around 4% of its shares, which at current price will raise at least $3 billion, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The sources could not be named as the information has not yet been made public. Baidu declined to comment on the launch.

Baidu shares, listed on the Nasdaq have risen 18.1% so far this year to the current price of $255.14. The peak in 2021 was $339.91 on Feb. 19.

The deal has been ready to launch since at least Tuesday but the New York-listed Baidu has waited for volatility in stock markets to ease, especially in tech shares, before going ahead with it, one of the sources added.