Alibaba's US$20b logistics arm is gearing up for listing in city

Cainiao Network Technology, the logistics arm of Alibaba (9988), has started preparations with banks for its Hong Kong initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said, paving way to be the first of the Chinese tech firm's six business units to go public.

Banks including China International Capital Corporation (3908) and Citigroup are working with the company to prepare for the first-time share sale, the people said. The firm is targeting a listing as soon as the end of this year, said one of the people, asking not to be identified.

Cainiao is currently valued at more than US$20 billion (HK$156 billion), the people said.

Cainiao hasn't decided on the IPO size, while the timeline is still subject to changes depending on market conditions, the people said. A representative for Cainiao said the company doesn't have a clear plan and timeline for an IPO. A representative for Citigroup declined to comment, while a representative for CICC didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alibaba this week unveiled plans to split its US$250 billion business into six main units encompassing e-commerce, media and the cloud.

Each business will explore fundraising or IPO at an appropriate time.

The tech mammoth will consider gradually giving up control of some of its main businesses, Alibaba chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said on a conference call yesterday, but declined to specify a timeline for any IPOs.

Cainiao, which means rookie or amateur in Chinese, promises to deliver packages in China within 24 hours and anywhere else in the world in 72 hours, according to its website. It directly operated nine overseas sorting centers and partnered with more than 500 logistics companies globally as of March 2022.

The Alibaba arm's revenue, after inter-segment elimination, rose 27 percent on a year-on-year basis to 16.6 billion yuan (HK$18.9 billion) for the three months ended December 31, according to a statement last month. Upgrades in consumer logistics services and international fulfillment solutions contributed to the growth.