Topic: How To Invest

Spinoffs, Takeovers & Special Situations Hotline – Friday, March 2, 2018

Article Excerpt

BAIDU INC. (ADR), $250.60, symbol BIDU on Nasdaq, is China’s largest Internet search provider with an estimated 71% market share and annual revenues of $13 billion. The company also owns 70% of iQIYI, a video-streaming service that operates in China. It’s considered that country’s “Netflix.” On February 13, 2018, Baidu confirmed it has filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO) of iQIYI shares on an unspecified U.S. exchange. The shares would trade as ADRs under the symbol “IQ.” Upon completion of the offering, Baidu would remain the controlling shareholder. iQIYI has posted losses since its inception in 2010. It reported a net loss of 3.74 billion yuan ($592 million U.S.) for 2017, compared with 3.07 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue, however, rose 54.6%, to 17.38 billion yuan from 11.24 billion yuan. iQIYI continues to grow its content library. In 2017, it spent $2.1 billion acquiring new content and producing its own shows and…