Beijing-based Z.AI Co Ltd, formerly Zhipu AI, has launched a Hong Kong fundraising of about $5 billion, according to term sheets seen by Reuters on Friday. The package pairs a share placement of roughly $2 billion with a concurrent convertible-bond sale of about $3 billion as Chinese AI developers raise capital for computing infrastructure and talent to compete with larger U.S. rivals.
Z.AI is offering 21.97 million new Hong Kong shares at HK$714 ($91.05) each, a 10% discount to Friday’s close of HK$793, Reuters reported. Alongside that, the company is marketing 20.14 billion yuan ($3 billion) of zero-coupon bonds due September 2027, yuan-denominated and settled in U.S. dollars, with an initial conversion price of HK$892.50 — a 25% premium to the placement price. The share sale and bond offering run in parallel but are not contingent on each other closing. CICC is sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner with Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong).
Proceeds are earmarked for research and development, computing resources and related infrastructure, plus expansion, strategic investments, potential acquisitions, and working capital, the sheets showed. Z.AI listed in Hong Kong in January and raised about $4 billion in a July follow-on; rivals MiniMax, Moonshot, and DeepSeek are also pursuing Hong Kong or Shanghai listings, Reuters has reported. The company did not immediately respond to Reuters outside office hours.