Baidu’s iQiyi, Bilibili extend Chinese rush to go public in US

Two more large technology companies in China have launched initial public offerings (IPOs) to begin trading in New York.

The filings on Friday in the United States by Baidu’s Netflix-style video streaming service iQiyi and video site Bilibili come on the heels of 21 new listings last year by Chinese companies on US exchanges.

IQiyi aims to raise as much as US$2.4 billion, offering 125 million American depositary shares at US$17 to US$19 apiece, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bilibili said in its filing that it intended to raise as much as US$525 million, offering 42 million depositary shares for US$10.50 to US$12.50 each.

Chinese companies hungry for more cash for expansion have increasingly turned to US markets to sell their shares, with last year’s total being the most since 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

While investors in 2017’s class have lost 11 per cent on a weighted-average basis, the cadence of deals does not appear to be slowing.