IQiyi, the streaming site of Baidu, hopes to stage its initial public offering in the US early next year, Bloomberg reported, with sources saying the company is looking for a valuation of at least USD 8 billion, and up to USD 10 billion. They added however that the IPO is still in the early stages and the final valuation could change.
The company is planning to soon start negotiations with banks and deal arrangers. Baidu wants to continue holding a controlling stake in iQiyi upon the IPO via dual-class shares.
iQiyi is the only Chinese service that licenses shows from Netflix. It now needs to power up in order to fight off rival platforms run by and Tencent. Baidu, which is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles, needs to buy and create more content to sustain its lead among online video platforms, based on time spent.
IQiyi said in June it’s in talks to share more data and revenue with partners, including Alphabet’s Google, to bolster its platform. Many Google services that distribute content, such as YouTube, remain blocked in China, reducing the US company’s ability to expand in the country.
