Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba filed on Tuesday for a $1 billion Initial Public Offering in the United States.
Though the IPO was set at $1 billion, that was merely to come up with a registration fee, reports The New York Times. The company ultimately hopes to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion.
B. Riley & Company analyst Sameet Sinha said, "Alibaba is the fastest-growing Internet company in one of the fastest-growing economies in the world." Sinha added, "They are like an Amazon, an Ebay, and a PayPal."
In China, global companies line up to sell through Alibaba in an effort to reach more consumers. Disney, Nike and Apple have virtual storefronts through Alibaba's Internet shopping center Tmall. Aliaba also has its own digital payment company similar to PayPal called Alipay. It also is capable of conducting transactions through mobile phones in China and is used as frequently as credit cards are elsewhere.
Alibaba's IPO has investors excited to have a chance to dip into the Chinese market and also interest in Silicon Valley is quite high, according to Reuters. Analysts believe Alibaba could surpass Facebook's amazing $16 billion IPO and leave the e-commerce giant worth close to $200 billion.