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Baidu, China’s equivalent of Google, said Friday that it had received a nonbinding proposal to acquire its majority stake in the Chinese video streaming website Qiyi.com, valuing the business at about $2.8 billion.
百度在周五表示收到一份收购其流媒体视频网站爱奇艺(Qiyi.com)多数股份的非约束性提议，对公司估值约为28亿美元。百度在中国的地位相当于谷歌(Google)。
Robin Yanhong Li, the Baidu chairman and chief executive, and Yu Gong, the chief executive of Qiyi, offered to acquire the 80.5 percent stake in Qiyi owned by Baidu.
百度董事长兼首席执行官李彦宏和爱奇艺首席执行官龚宇提议，收购百度所持有的80.5%的爱奇艺股份。
The consolidation of ownership by Mr. Li and Mr. Gong could be a first step toward an initial public offering of stock for iQiyi. In recent years, iQiyi’s executives have said repeatedly that they are planning to list the company in the United States in the next few years. Listing the video site, which Baidu acquired in 2012, allows it to retain talent by offering new stock incentives and greater independence to the company’s leaders.
李彦宏和龚宇此次获取所有权的举措可能是推动爱奇艺首次公开募股的第一步。近些年来，爱奇艺高管曾多次表示，他们计划未来几年在美国上市。百度于2012年收购该视频网站，网站上市后可以提供新的股票激励，给予公司领导层更多独立空间，从而留住人才。
Qiyi, now known as iQiyi, started in 2010 with investments from Baidu and Providence Equity Partners. Baidu bought out Providence’s stake for an undisclosed amount in 2012.
百度与普罗维登斯投资(Providence Equity Partners)在2010年共同投资创办了视频网站奇艺，后更名为爱奇艺。百度于2012年收购了普罗维登斯所持股份，没有透露交易金额。
Baidu competes with its Chinese rivals Alibaba and Tencent to invest in online-to-offline services, the sorts of businesses where the Chinese use smartphones to order things as diverse as meals and massages brought to their homes. This has been an expensive undertaking, with Baidu operating profit for the quarter ended Sept. 30 falling by more than a third from a year ago in part because of rising costs.
百度与中国竞争对手阿里巴巴及腾讯争相投资在线-线下服务领域，中国人通过智能手机订购各种商品，享受送货到家的服务，比如送餐和按摩服务。这是一项成本高昂的业务，在截至9月30日的第三季度中，百度的运营利润同比下降超过三分之一，部分是因为成本增加。
The buyers would expect that Qiyi would remain a strategic partner after the transaction and enter into cooperation agreements with Baidu if the deal were consummated, Baidu said.
百度表示，如果交易达成，买主会希望此后爱奇艺仍然是百度的战略合作伙伴，与百度签订合作协议。
“The board cautions Baidu’s shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the board recently received the nonbinding proposal and no decisions have been made with respect to Baidu’s response to the proposal,” Baidu said in a news release.
百度发布新闻稿称，“百度董事会提醒公司股东和其他考虑交易公司股票的投资者，公司目前只是接到了这份收购提议，尚未作出任何决定。”
“There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any legally binding agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated,” Baidu added.
百度还表示，“不能保证买方会给出最终的正式报价，也不能确保会实施任何具有法律约束力的协议，将来会达成任何交易。”
Such a transaction by a management-involved group for iQiyi would lighten Baidu’s burden in another expensive area: streaming video. Baidu competes with Alibaba, Tencent and other Chinese companies to create or buy movies and television shows — both foreign and domestic, with iQiyi showing a range of programs from Chinese costume dramas to American shows like “Homeland” — that Chinese viewers stream through their smartphones, tablets and computers. Baidu has told investors it expects the costs of buying and producing content to continue to rise as a percentage of its income.
这项由爱奇艺管理层开展的交易会减轻百度在另一个高成本领域的负担：流媒体视频。百度与阿里巴巴、腾讯及其他中国公司开展竞争，制作或购买国内外电影及电视节目，供中国观众通过智能手机、平板电脑及电脑观看。爱奇艺拥有很多节目，从中国古装剧到《国土安全》(Homeland)等美剧。百度告诉投资者，公司希望继续增加购买及制作节目的支出在收入中所占的比重。
Baidu said its board had formed a special committee of three independent directors to evaluate the transaction. The law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has been hired to advise the committee.
百度表示，董事会已经成立由三名独立董事组成的特别委员会，对该交易进行评估。该委员会已经聘请世达律师事务所(Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher&Flom)提供顾问服务。
