IQiyi, Baidu's Netflix of China, Makes U.S. Market Debut
March 29 2018 - 12:56PM
Dow Jones News
By Austen Hufford
The Netflix-like, video-streaming unit of Chinese search-engine
giant Baidu Inc. is primed to raise $2.25 billion in its U.S.
initial public offering.
American depositary shares of IQiyi Inc. opened trading Thursday
at $18.20 in their market debut, slightly higher than the $18
offering price. The IPO, which sold 125 million shares, priced at
the midpoint of its $17 to $19 marketed range.
Midday, IQiyi shares, trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under
the ticker IQ, traded near $18.
The unprofitable company has been looking to raise money to stay
ahead in the competitive Chinese video-streaming sector where tech
titans Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. also
have offerings. It plans to spend half of the proceeds raised from
the IPO to "expand and enhance" its content offerings, according to
a securities filing.
IQiyi, founded in 2010, said it is China's largest
video-streaming service by amount of time spent watching. IQiyi
reported 60.1 million subscribers as of Feb. 28, roughly 59 million
of whom pay for the service.
Underwriters of the offering could also purchase up to 18.8
million iQiyi shares.
Alyssa Abkowitz contributed to this article
Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 29, 2018 12:41 ET (16:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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