Baidu enters agreements for smart living financing

Chinese internet search giant Baidu Inc announced on Wednesday its smart living group has entered into definitive agreements with CPE, Baidu Capital and IDG Capital for Series A financing at a post-money valuation of approximately 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion).

Baidu said in a statement the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Upon completion of the transaction, Baidu will hold super voting rights in SLG and is expected to continue to consolidate the financial results of SLG as a majority shareholder.

SLG operates the conversational artificial intelligence technology DuerOS voice assistant and DuerOS-powered smart devices.

"We are pleased to see the rapid growth of SLG since inception in 2017, to become a leading player in China (and globally) in the fast growing voice assistant and smart devices market by leveraging Baidu's AI capabilities," said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu. "This transaction marks another milestone for Baidu to incubate new businesses with its leading technologies and strong synergies from Baidu Core, to capture large market opportunities.”