Alibaba begins restructuring with plan to take its logistics branch in Hong Kong public

Alibaba Group kicked off its restructuring on Tuesday with a plan to take its logistics arm Cainiao public in Hong Kong, which would make this unit the first to be separated since the Chinese e-commerce giant announced its dissolution ago. six months.

Alibaba indicated that it had filed to split up Cainiao Smart Logistics Network to the Hong Kong stock exchange, but that financial terms such as the size of the offer had not been finalized.

However, Alibabawhich owns a 69.54% stake in Cainiao, will continue to hold more than 50% of the shares and remain a subsidiary of the company after the spin-off, the parent firm added.

Reuters reported in May that Cainiao It aimed to raise between 1,000 and 2,000 million dollars. Since Alibaba co-founded Cainiao in 2013 with partners including conglomerate Fosun Group and some logistics companies, the unit has become a major logistics provider in China, serving third-party clients as well as Alibaba.

Cainiao He said in his prospectus that Alibaba It contributed to around 30% of its total revenue in its financial reporting years between 2021-2023 and the three months to the end of June. In turn, Cainiao’s revenue accounted for about 10% of Alibaba’s revenue in the last quarter.

Dealmakers have said they hope Cainiao’s initial public offering, which is expected to be followed by market debuts of other Alibaba units in the near term, will revive sluggish fundraising activities in Hong Kong.

Cainiao It will need to apply to the China Securities Regulatory Commission within three business days of its IPO filing in Hong Kong and receive the green light from the regulator before moving forward with the offering.

Cainiao has appointed Citigroup, Citic Securities and JPMorgan as joint sponsors of its IPO.