On September 13, information released by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange revealed that Zhipu (02513.HK) has successfully raised approximately $5 billion in funding. This amount is a combination of $2 billion from share placements and $3 billion from the issuance of convertible bonds. The majority of these funds will be earmarked for advancing the development of Zhipu's next-generation GLM model—a fully self-trained system—along with the necessary computational infrastructure to support it.

According to the announcement, Zhipu has set the share placement price at HK$714 per share. This price reflects a discount of about 9.96% compared to the closing price on the day before the announcement. The newly placed shares constitute roughly 4.50% of the company's enlarged issued share capital post-placement.

The convertible bonds issued by Zhipu boast a zero-coupon structure, meaning they do not pay periodic interest. Instead, they are issued at 100.5% of their principal value and are redeemable at face value upon maturity. The initial conversion price for these bonds is set at HK$892.50 per share. This price represents a 25% premium over the share placement price and approximately a 12.55% premium over the closing price prior to the announcement.

The innovative combination of zero-coupon bonds with a premium conversion feature has emerged as a hallmark of this funding round. By providing further clarity on its R&D budgets and funding strategies, Zhipu has solidified its financial foundation. This will enable the company to conduct ongoing training experiments, iterate on its models, and refine its computational infrastructure. Consequently, Zhipu is now better positioned to compete in the next phase of global cutting-edge model development.