IQiyi, Baidu's Netflix of China, Makes U.S. Market Debut

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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2018 12:41 ET (16:41 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.