ZTO Express makes move to list in New York

Chinese express delivery services provider ZTO Express Co, one of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's logistics partners, has submitted a filing for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, in a move to raise $1.5 billion.

The IPO could be the second-largest by a Chinese firm in the United States, following the IPO of Alibaba that raised $25 billion in 2014. ZTO Express plans to use the raised capital to expand its scale, eye potential strategic acquisitions, and to establish and purchase new operations centers, trucks and facilities, according to its prospectus.

Founded in 2002, the Shanghai-based ZTO Express generated sales revenues of $639 million last year, and achieved net profits of $115 million. The profit margin hit 18 percent, the prospectus said.