E-commerce giant Alibaba could be in line for the biggest initial public share since Facebook as it seeks to raise $15bn on the New York Stock Exchange.
The announcement ends months of speculation of a listing in Hong Kong or London.
Alibaba and its partners control 80 per cent of the Chinese e-commerce market and increased its revenue by 51 per cent to $1.8bn for the quarter ending September 2013.
“Alibaba Group has decided to commence the process of an initial public offering in the United States,” the company said in a statement. “This will make us a more global company and enhance the company‘s transparency, as well as allow the company to continue to pursue our long-term vision and ideals.”
The float follows a string of Chinese business looking to list in the US such as ‘China‘s Twitter‘ Weibo and JD.com.
Alibaba sells a wide ranging array of products including food, electronics and aeroplanes for buyers, suppliers and manufactures.
Analysts value the firm – founded by former English teacher Jack Ma in 1999 – as much as $200bn which would make it the second most valuable company in the world after Google.
