Bilibili Completes $500 Million Convertible Notes Offering as Share Buybacks Continue

Chinese video platform Bilibili Inc. has completed a US$500 million offering of convertible senior notes due in 2031, alongside a share placement and share repurchase transactions.

The Shanghai-based company announced on September 9 that the notes have been issued to qualified institutional investors outside the United States. The securities will mature on September 15, 2031, unless they are converted, repurchased or redeemed earlier under their terms.

The notes do not carry regular interest. Investors can convert them into Bilibili Class Z ordinary shares at an initial conversion price of approximately HK$155.79 per share. That represents a premium of about 28.3% over Bilibili’s Hong Kong closing share price of HK$121.40 on September 4.

Alongside the notes transaction, financial institutions completed a placement of approximately 33.35 million Class Z shares at HK$115.38 each. The placement included shares borrowed from third parties to support hedging activities and shares sold by a Tencent subsidiary.

Bilibili said it did not issue new shares as part of the placement and did not receive proceeds from that transaction. Tencent received the proceeds from the shares sold by its subsidiary.

The company also completed a US$100 million share repurchase involving 6.8 million Class Z shares under a separate repurchase programme.

A larger transaction involving Tencent remains pending. Tencent has agreed to subscribe for an additional US$200 million of Bilibili’s convertible notes, while Bilibili plans to repurchase approximately 13.59 million Class Z shares held by Tencent.

However, those transactions have not yet been completed. They require approval from Bilibili’s independent shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting, along with other customary closing conditions.

Bilibili said it expects to convene the shareholder meeting in the near future.

The transactions form part of a broader capital-management strategy involving convertible debt, share repurchases and Tencent’s continued investment relationship with Bilibili.

Bilibili operates a major online video community in China, serving younger audiences through user-generated content, professional content and its well-known live-comment feature, commonly known as “bullet chatting.”