Google sells stake in rival Baidu

SAN FRANCISCO - Google sold its roughly 2 per cent stake in rival Baidu.com on May 25, according to a US regulatory filing.

Baidu is the market leader in China's internet Web search market.

A form 144 insider stock sale registration was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by Google detailing the sale of 749,625 Baidu Class A ordinary shares.

As a pre-IPO insider, Google was restricted initially from selling its holdings in Baidu following its high-flying initial public offering on August 5, 2005.

"We have disposed of our modest investment in Baidu," Google spokeswoman Debbie Frost confirmed.

"It has always been our goal to grow our own successful business in China and we are very focused on that," she said in an emailed statement.

Google's stake was worth $63 million on May 25, the date of the sale, according to the US regulatory filing.

Google, which acquired its stake in Baidu in June 2004 for $5 million, was once considered a potential acquirer of Baidu. At the time of the August 2005 IPO, Google's stake represented about 2.6 per cent of Baidu shares.

But Google, a distant No. 2 in the Chinese Web search market, has subsequently moved to establish operations in China and competes ferociously with Baidu in the world's most populous market.

Baidu commands the same dominant position in China that Google does in most other countries.

- REUTERS