Baidu to raise at least $3bn in Hong Kong listing in March

Baidu is aiming to raise at least $3bn in a secondary listing in the Hong Kong stock exchange in March, sources told CNBC on Thursday.

Baidu, which is currently listed on the US Nasdaq exchange, will issue 4% of its shares, one of the sources said.

It is expected that the listing will be completed before the end of March.

The book building process could reportedly begin as early as Friday, with the final pricing of the shares to be announced toward the end of next week.

Baidu joins a list of Chinese companies that have floated on the US stock exchange while pursuing secondary listings in Hong Kong. Others that have done so include Bilibili, Alibaba, JD.com and Net.Ease.

A 128% surge in the value of its shares over the last 12 months may have been a factor in deciding when to raise additional capital.

The company, which generally focuses on advertising, is seeking to diversify into the autonomous driving business and semiconductors for use in AI applications.