Chinese internet company Sina plans to spin off its Twitter-like microblog service, Weibo, in a US initial public offering to raise US$500 million, a person with knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday.
The person, who wasn’t authorised to speak publicly about the deal, said investment banks Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse had been hired to manage the IPO in New York.
The share sale, which has not been officially announced, is expected to be carried out in the second quarter. The company did not return a request by phone and e-mail for comment.
The plans were first reported by the Financial Times on Monday.
Sina’s IPO plans come as other Chinese internet heavyweights prepare for share sales.
Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, is planning an IPO that’s widely expected to happen this year and could value the company at more than US$100 billion. Alibaba bought an 18 per cent stake in Sina Weibo for US$586 million last April.