Alibaba’s global e-commerce arm that includes Lazada weighs US IPO, sources say

Singapore – Alibaba Group Holding’s international online shopping unit is exploring a US initial public offering (IPO) as it weighs options to spur growth for the business that includes major e-commerce brands Lazada and AliExpress.

The firm is in the early stages of consideration and the IPO’s size has yet to be determined, according to people familiar with the matter. The business group is in talks with banks that could potentially help prepare for the IPO next year, said one of the people. Alibaba’s US-listed shares rose 1.2 per cent in New York trading.

The unit, which competes with rivals such as Amazon.com in markets outside China, is one of six parts that Alibaba is splitting into. Valuations for the international business units vary: Morgan Stanley in March priced “international retail” units including Lazada and Trendyol at roughly US$29 billion (S$38.5 billion), while an analyst report by China International Capital Corp in the same month valued the firm’s international division at about US$39 billion.

In recent quarters, however, growth has been volatile in the face of global recessionary fears. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts estimated that the unit could be worth at least US$19 billion provided it cut costs.

If it goes ahead, the Alibaba unit would join a number of high-profile Chinese firms, including fast-fashion leader Shein, seeking to tap US capital even as tensions rise between the world’s two largest economies. A listing in the United States could help the business – formally Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, or IDCG – attract global investors wary of putting money directly into China.

Alibaba in March unveiled plans to break up its empire into units such as e-commerce, logistics and the cloud, with each business potentially exploring fund-raising and an IPO at an appropriate time. The company will consider gradually giving up control of some of the businesses, chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said at the time, but he declined to specify a timeline for any IPOs.

IDCG includes South-east Asian online mall Lazada; AliExpress, popular in Russia, Latin America and parts of Europe; Trendyol in Turkey; Daraz in South Asia; and business-to-business marketplace Alibaba.com.

In the final three months of 2022, the combined orders of Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol and Daraz grew 3 per cent from a year earlier, led by Trendyol. The international unit accounted for roughly US$9.5 billion or 7 per cent of Alibaba’s revenue in the last fiscal year and is headed by Mr Jiang Fan, former president of Alibaba’s domestic online retail businesses Taobao and Tmall.

Other parts of Alibaba’s empire have already begun moving ahead with spin-offs. Cainiao Network Technology, the logistics arm of Alibaba, and Freshippo, its grocery chain, have started preparations with banks for IPOs in Hong Kong.

Deliberations around an IPO are very preliminary and the situation may change, the people said. IDCG said in response to queries from Bloomberg that there is no IPO plan currently.

Alibaba has in the past explored splitting off Lazada. The unit, bought in stages from Rocket Internet, is considered one of the Chinese firm’s most high-profile international brands. It competes with Amazon and Sea’s Shopee in South-east Asian markets such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

In 2022, Alibaba discussed raising at least US$1 billion for Lazada before calling off negotiations with potential investors when talks bogged down over its valuation. It had aimed to secure the funding as a precursor to a spin-off. Alibaba has since mothballed the fund raising and injected additional funds into the company instead. BLOOMBERG