Investing.com -- Alibaba Group's (HK:9988) international digital shopping unit is exploring an initial public offering in the U.S. as a potential strategy to boost growth, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.
According to the news service, the business behind brands like AliExpress and Lazada are in negotiations with banks that could lead to an IPO next year. However, the size of the floatation has yet to be determined and considerations are still in their early stages, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.
U.S.-listed shares in Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) rose in early U.S. trading.
The online shopping division - a competitor with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) outside of China - is one of the six individual parts that Alibaba is planning to break up into as part of an initiative unveiled in March to restructure the sprawling conglomerate.
Under the proposal, each of these business would look into its own fundraising and an IPO at an appropriate time in the future. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang has not yet laid out a timeline for these IPOs, however.