Baidu's Blockbuster Performance

The Nasdaq stock market can expect to see more fireworks from Chinese Internet companies in the future, if search engine Baidu.com Inc.'s IPO performance on Friday is a hint of what China's growing economy will incite. In the largest first-day gain since 2000, shares of the Beijing-based search engine company skyrocketed to $151.21 before ending at $122.54 on the first day of trading, more than quadrupling the $27 offering price. The 354% rise was the biggest one-day gain of an IPO since Selectica Inc.'s 371% climb in 2000. Baidu's market value now sits around $4 billion. The successful debut meant a sharp inflation in the value of shares held by Baidu's private investors. Pat McGovern, founder of media company International Data Group Inc., whose venture arm had invested in Baidu in 2000, said Baidu's public offering transformed IDG's 1.45 million shares, bought for about $1 a share, to a stake worth roughly $178 million.

Source: Dow Jones Venturewire

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Howard Sholkin
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