Alibaba Group, China’s biggest e-commerce company, is to start the process of filing for an initial public offering in the US that may be the biggest IPO since Facebook’s float almost two years ago, a report said.

Alibaba Group, China’s biggest e-commerce company, is to start the process of filing for an initial public offering in the US that may be the biggest IPO since Facebook’s float almost two years ago, according to Bloomberg.

The IPO, which could see the business have a market capitalisation as high as $200 billion, will create the second-largest Internet business behind Google, the report said, as well as create a massive liquidity event for founder Jack Ma and his business associates – a fact unlikely to be lost on wealth managers.

The news service quoted the company as saying that a listing in China may be considered “should circumstances permit in the future”.

If there is a share sale in the US, it will be seen as a blow to Hong Kong, which has been urged by local businesses to shake up its financial regulations to make it more attractive as a financial centre and resist the competition from the Mainland and other financial hubs, such as Singapore.

The news service quoted an expert as saying that Alibaba wants to retain its partnership structure, which is why it has chosen to list in the US; the US has more investors and analysts who cover the tech sector than is the case in places such as Hong Kong, the report claimed.

The report added that Alibaba hasn’t decided when to file for the listing.

This publication is working with the research organisation Wealthmonitor to provide regular updates on liquidity events such as IPOs and mergers and acquisitions.