Zhipu Z.AI announces $5B raise via H-share placement and convertible bonds; 60% earmarked for next-gen GLM and compute

On September 13, 2026, Zhipu AI (02513.HK, Z.AI) filed a HKEX announcement disclosing a planned roughly $5 billion raise comprising a new H-share placement and a concurrent zero-coupon convertible bond. The company plans to place up to 21.965 million new H shares at HK$714 each, generating HK$15.683 billion (about $2 billion) in gross proceeds, with the placement price at a 9.96 percent discount to the September 11 close of HK$793. In parallel, Zhipu plans to issue zero-coupon convertible bonds due 2027 with a USD-settled principal of RMB 20.14 billion (about $3.016 billion) and an initial conversion price of HK$892.5 per share, a 12.55 percent premium to the September 11 close. Zhipu said the two transactions are independent and not conditional on each other; the placement is expected to settle on September 16 subject to conditions and the placing agents' discretion to terminate, and the company explicitly noted that neither transaction is guaranteed to complete. Use of proceeds: about 60 percent of net proceeds for next-generation GLM models, the Fully Self Training system, and large-scale training and inference infrastructure; about 15 percent for business expansion, strategic investments, and potential M&A; and about 25 percent for capital structure optimization, working capital, and general corporate purposes. This is Zhipu's second major raise since listing in January. The company completed a July placement of 19.78 million H shares that raised about HK$31.375 billion net, with roughly $2.6 billion (HK$20.4 billion) of those proceeds still unspent at the end of August. Following the September 14 announcement, Z.AI shares fell about 9 percent as markets reacted to near-term dilution and the placement discount. Coming only two months after the July $4B raise, analysts read the transaction as a decisive move to lock in compute and training capacity for the next-generation GLM family.