Alibaba Group plans to list logistics arm on HK stock exchange

Tech heavyweight Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Tuesday night that it plans to list its logistics arm Cainiao on the Hong Kong stock exchange, making it the first business unit to go public following a major restructuring.

Alibaba said in a filing that it had submitted a spin-off proposal to the Hong Kong bourse, and has received confirmation to proceed.

Alibaba will continue to hold more than 50 percent of the shares of Cainiao after the spinoff, and retain it as a subsidiary, it said. The company currently owns a 69.54 percent stake in Cainiao.

The move comes about six months after Alibaba announced in March that it would split its business into six main units, with each separate business having the flexibility to raise outside capital and seek its own IPO.

The six units cover cloud intelligence, Taobao Tmall commerce, local services, Cainiao smart logistics, global digital commerce and digital media and entertainment.