Baidu Inc., the operator of China’s top search engine, is set to issue approximately 10 billion yuan (equivalent to $1.4 billion or RM6.12 billion) in offshore bonds, according to sources familiar with the situation. This move adds to the recent trend of debt financing among Chinese tech firms.
The bond offering will include a five-year note with an expected yield of between 2.6% and 2.8%, alongside a 10-year bond yielding between 2.8% and 3.0%, as revealed by the anonymous sources. Pricing for the bonds may occur on Wednesday, with the amount raised increasing from initial discussions of at least four billion yuan.
This will mark Baidu’s first bond issuance since 2021, occurring just ahead of a $600 million bond that is due on April 7.
Other Chinese technology companies have also been active in the debt markets lately. For instance, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, co-founded by Jack Ma, successfully priced around $5 billion in dollar and yuan bonds in November, marking its first public bond issuance in nearly four years after raising $5 billion through a private convertible securities offering in May.
These financing activities take place as leading industry players from both the United States and China rapidly deploy artificial intelligence models, with companies like OpenAI and Alibaba at the forefront. This surge in developments highlights an accelerated pace of innovation, particularly following DeepSeek’s recent breakthrough, which showcased capabilities rivaling those of OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc.
