China's Bilibili launches share sale for $3.2 bln Hong Kong listing

March 17 (Reuters) - Chinese online video site Bilibili Inc BILI.O launched the share sale for its secondary Hong Kong listing on Wednesday, aiming to raise up to $3.2 billion, as it eyes a return to an exchange closer to home.

The company, backed by Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings Ltd 0700.HK and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N, priced 25 million shares at HK$988 ($127.21) per share.

Bilibili, which went public on Nasdaq in March 2018, is among more than dozen U.S.-listed Chinese firms to carry out a "homecoming listing" since Alibaba began the trend two years ago, following heightened tensions with the former U.S. government under President Donald Trump.

Peer Baidu Inc BIDU.O is set to raise $3.08 billion in a secondary listing at Hong Kong, it said earlier on Wednesday. nL1N2LF09N

The online platform over the past year has expanded from featuring animation videos to documentaries, e-sports, and music videos, attracting more than 202 million monthly active users.

The proceeds from the offerings will be used to develop content to generate user growth, the company said, adding that it would trade under the ticker "9626".

($1 = 7.7665 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta and Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)

((Chavi.Mehta@thomsonreuters.com;))