What Does Baidu Hope to Achieve in Selling Fintech Unit?
This is one of the largest private equity deals in China. Baidu Inc. sold a majority stake in its wholly-owned financial services arm for roughly US$ 1.9 billion to a consortium of investors led by private equity firms TPG Capital Management and Carlyle Group, with participation from Taikang Life Insurance Company Limited and ABC International Holdings Limited (a unit of Agricultural Bank of China), as part of a deal that will leave the Beijing-based search engine with 42% of outstanding shares in business following final closing of the transaction this summer. The unit is being valued at US$ 4 billion. The sale gives Baidu some cash to focus on its core services.
Eagle-Eye
China is in the midst of a shift from an industrial economy to a new consumer economy. Baidu is to Google, as Alibaba is to Amazon, as Tencent is to other U.S. tech giants – the competition in artificial intelligence and productivity gains is heating up.
Deal Specifics
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