Baidu raises $1 billion in US-targeted bond

Baidu, a Chinese search engine, has returned to the US dollar market, raising $1 billion in the first sizeable dollar bond from a Chinese company during the past few months.

The SEC-registered deal was announced at 9pm Asia time on Tuesday and books were kept open for three hours, attracting $4 billion worth of orders within that time, with demand heavily driven by US investors.

Baidu did not hold a roadshow and relied primarily on US investors to get the deal done. While Asian investors drove most of the bond issuance during the first five months of this year, that bid has faded and issuance has...