(Yicai Global) May 5 -- Alibaba Group Holding’s international e-commerce unit is not planning to go public in the United States, the Chinese internet giant told The Paper.

Alibaba’s Global Digital Commerce Group has no plan to list at the moment, the Hangzhou-based company that operates Southeast Asian e-commerce site Lazada and cross-border marketplace AliExpress reportedly said.

The unit is exploring an initial public offering in the US as it considers options to spur business growth, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. The IPO is in the early stages of consideration and its size has yet to be determined, though it could happen as soon as next year, the report added.

Alibaba announced on March 28 that it had split itself into six business groups to deal with a rapidly changing market environment, adding that each will independently raise funds and go public when the time is right.

Since then, speculation has abounded on IPO planning for some of the units, including Cainiao Smart Logistics and Cloud Intelligence Group, but none of them has confirmed any such plans.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares [HKG: 9988] ended 1.2 percent higher at HKD81.65 (USD10.40) apiece today. In New York yesterday, the firm’s stock [NYSE: BABA] closed up 1.2 percent at USD82.49.

Editor: Futura Costaglione