Baidu's Video Streaming Unit iQIYI Files For IPO

The IPO market is fighting to break out of a lukewarm phase and shift to top gear. The return of Chinese issuers to the IPO market was one of the reasons for a fairly decent showing in 2017, according to IPO expert Renaissance Capital.

What Happened

Baidu Inc (ADR) BIDU's Netflix, Inc. NFLX-like video streaming unit iQIYI with the SEC, with an initial offering size of $1.5 billion.

The company plans plans to list its American depository shares under the ticker symbol "IQ" on the Nasdaq Global Market.

Why It's Important 

In the filing, iQIYI said it has 50.8 million subscribers, each of whom spent an average of 1.7 hours per day on the platform. Mobile monthly average users, or MAUs, numbered 421.3 million compared to 424.1 million PC MAUs.

For fiscal 2017, iQIYI reported revenue of $2.67 billion, up about 55 percent year-over-year, and a pro forma net loss per ADS of 14 cents.

iQIYI intends to use about half of the IPO proceeds to expand and enhance its content offerings. Subsequent to the listing, Baidu will continue to be the controlling shareholder of the company, holding all Class B voting shares.

What's Next

Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS, Credit Suisse Group AG (ADR) CS and Bank of America Corp BAC are acting as lead underwriters for the offering.

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