Shares of Chinese artificial intelligence company Z.ai fell more than 10% on Monday after the company unveiled plans to raise about $5 billion through a new share placement and a convertible bond offering. The transaction marks Z.ai’s second major fundraising in the past two months.
The Beijing-based company plans to issue up to 21.97 million new shares at HK$714 each, which would generate gross proceeds of about HK$15.68 billion, or roughly $2 billion. The placement price implies a 10% discount to Z.ai’s Friday closing price of HK$793.
Separately, Z.ai said it plans to issue 20.14 billion yuan, or $3 billion, in zero-coupon convertible bonds due in 2027. The bonds will initially be convertible at HK$892.50 per share, representing a 12.5% premium to Friday’s closing price.
According to the company, the proceeds will be used to support development of its next-generation AI models, including research and development, training and inference infrastructure, and commercialization.
The latest capital raise comes just two months after Z.ai raised about $4 billion through a share placement in July, underscoring how quickly the company has returned to the market for fresh funding.
Last month, Z.ai shares had surged after the company launched a new AI model that it said runs entirely on Chinese-made chips. Z.ai also claimed it used 100,000 domestically made chips to process online requests for that model.
Shares of domestic rival MiniMax also moved lower on Monday, falling about 5%.
