(Yicai Global) Sept. 27 -- Shares of Ctrip.Com International slumped after Chinese tech giant Baidu, its biggest shareholder, announced a plan to sell 30 percent of the shares it owns in China's biggest online travel agency.

The stock [NASDAQ:CTRP] fell nearly 7.3 percent yesterday to close at USD29.81, and was down a further 2.3 percent in premarket trading in New York at 5.13 a.m. local time today. Baidu's shares [NASDAQ:BIDU] gained 2.2 percent yesterday.

Baidu, which owns 19 percent of Ctrip, is offering up 31.3 million American depositary shares, Shanghai-based Ctrip said in a statement yesterday. The underwriters, Goldman Sachs Asia and J.P. Morgan Securities, will have an over-allotment option of 4.7 million shares.

The statement did not disclose why Baidu plans to trim its holding. But the divestment would garner it about USD1 billion, while still remaining Ctrip's largest investor.

In the first quarter, Baidu reported its first net loss since going public in 2005. Its second-quarter profit dropped 62 percent to CNY2.41 billion (USD338 billion) from a year earlier amid stiffer competition and a slowing economy.

Baidu obtained its Ctrip stake in exchange for stock in Ctrip's biggest rival Qunar Cayman Islands in October 2015.

Editor: James Boynton