China's Baidu Confirms to Release 3 mln Lock-up Shares Early

From Forbes:

"China's online search company Baidu.com confirmed it will release three mln lock-up shares sooner than originally planned in a bid to increase liquidity and attract institutional investors to the stock.

'Our public float is only 4.6 mln shares and investors have been very enthusiastic about Baidu's stock, so increasing liquidity will encourage institutional shareholders to invest in Baidu,' said Baidu spokeswoman, Cynthia He.

About 23 pct of outstanding shares in Baidu, which is China's leading Internet search engine, will be available for trading after the three mln shares join the 4.6 mln at present in the market. "