(Yicai Global) Feb. 14 --Though iQiyi has insisted over the years that it has no timetable for its listing, Baidu Inc. [NASDAQ:BIDU], which runs the video streaming website, has finally revealed that iQiyi has filed for a U.S. listing. Baidu, which released its last-year fourth-quarter results today, confirmed that iQiyi has submitted a listing application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Baidu will remain its controlling shareholder if it goes public.

iQiyi, which has secretly filed for a listing, has a target valuation of USD10 billion, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will underwrite its initial public offering, and the deal may close at the end of the first quarter or at the start of the second quarter, stated earlier reports, to which iQiyi made no comment.

Though the video-streaming industry is stuck in a cash-burning plight, iQiyi derives 40 percent of its revenue from advertising, 33 percent from membership fees and 27 percent from games and e-commerce, Gong Yu, its chief executive, said in a recent interview.

The countdown to iQiyi's flotation also means Baidu's investment in the online entertainment sector over the past eight years will finally pay off in the public market, enabling the internet behemoth to focus on its mobile and artificial intelligence businesses. Baidu's share price rose 4.64 percent after the release of its quarterly results.