By Kane Wu
HONG KONG, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Beijing-based artificial intelligence company Z.AI Co Ltd raised a total of $5 billion from a Hong Kong share placement of about $2 billion and a concurrent convertible bond sale of about $3 billion, the company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing on Sunday.
Z.AI launched the sales on Friday, offering 21.97 million new Hong Kong shares at HK$714 ($91.05) each, a 10% discount to Friday’s closing price of HK$793.
The company also raised 20.14 billion yuan ($3 billion) of zero-coupon bonds due in September 2027, the filing showed. The yuan-denominated bonds will be settled in U.S. dollars.
The bonds were issued at 100.5% of their face value, the filing showed. The initial conversion price is HK$892.50, a 25% premium to the HK$714 share placement price.
Z.AI can redeem all, but not part, of the bonds from February 18, 2027, if its shares trade at or above 130% of the conversion price for 20 out of 30 trading days, according to the sheet.
About 60% of the net proceeds will be used for research and development of the company’s next-generation models and its fully self-training system, Z.AI said in the filing.
Another 15% of the proceeds wil...