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Baidu's (9888) Kunlunxin Technology may defer its initial public offering in Hong Kong to next year, as the artificial intelligence chip unit is still waiting for approval from Chinese securities regulators, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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The semiconductor design firm confidentially filed for a US$2 billion (HK$15.6 billion) listing in the city in January and is originally estimated to get the green light from the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission this summer, the report said.
Although the company is actively preparing the listing, its debut time may fall in 2027 before getting the nod from Beijing, according to the report.
Baidu's spokesman told Bloomberg in a response that the company denied the relevant market rumours, noting that it can't disclose material non-public information as Kunlunxin is undergoing a confidential filing process, including details of the listing progress.
Baidu will make an announcement in due course, the spokesman added.
Hong Kong's booming IPO market
Kunlunxin's potential IPO could be one of the most attractive listings in Hong Kong this year, as the city's IPO market has drawn HK$388 billion so far, heading to the record-high HK$427 billion in 2010.
The chipmaker began preparing for a Shanghai STAR Market listing earlier this year, while the market anticipated its Hong Kong IPO would come first.
In the first half of the year, Kunlunxin's shipments accounted for 4 percent of China's data center AI chip market, compared with Huawei's 28 percent share, according to IDC.
Baidu's shares underperformed the market, closing more than 1 percent lower.
