Baidu receives offer to take iQiyi private as buyers seek China IPO
The offer values iQiyi at US$2.8 billion
Chinese search engine Baidu has received a buyout offer for its 80.5 per cent stake in Chinese Internet video company iQiyi, as its buyers seek to bring the popular streaming company public.
The offer was made by Baidu chief executive Robin Li and iQiyi’s chief executive Gong Yu, and values iQiyi at US$2.8 billion.
iQiyi was first founded in 2010 by Baidu, and is the largest video streaming site in China. Its 10 million paid subscribers watch over 1.28 billion hours of content on its platform each month, according to the company.
“Over the last six years since iQiyi was founded, Baidu has provided indispensable support in funding and resources. iQiyi is now at the top of the Chinese Internet video industry,” said Gong in an internal memo to employees, Chinese media reported.
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“After the privatisation, iQiyi will seek an appropriate time to go public in the domestic market,” he added.
Gong said that the privatisation offer stems from a need for increased financing capacity and development for iQiyi as the company seeks to gain a larger share of the Chinese Internet video market.