US IPO FOR BAIDU VIDEO UNIT

CHINESE search engine giant Baidu will spin off its Netflix-like video arm iQiyi and list in the US market, the company said in a statement and-

Revealed its net profit grew only 1 percent during the fourth quarter.

The news sent Baidu's shares up more than seven percent in afterhours trading on NASDAQ.

Baidu ''expects to remain iQiyi's controlling shareholding'' after the offering, the statement said.

Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that the online video streaming unit is valued at $15 billion.

iQiyi is the leading mobile video video provider in China with 463 million monthly active mobile users, closely followed by  Tencent's video site and Alibaba's  Youku Tudou, according to QuestMobile, a Beijing-based data research firm.

Last year  iQiyi reached a content licensing agreement with Netflix, whose shows include  ''Black Mirror''  and ''Stranger Things''.

New Street Research analyst  Kirk Boodry told Bloomberg that the IPO will be able to fund Baidu's content costs for the video unit.

''The iQiyi IPO confirmation is positive and we think that the video will be top story in 2018,'' he said.

[Agencies]