(Yicai Global) Sept. 22 -- JD.Com confirmed that it will spin off its online healthcare affiliate in preparation for an initial pubic offering in Hong Kong, making it the third unit of the Chinese online retail giant with listing plans.

The timing of JD Health’s IPO will depend on market conditions, its Beijing-based parent company said in a statement yesterday.

JD Health aims to raise at least USD1 billion from the share sale, which could happen as soon as this month, Bloomberg News reported on Sept. 17, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. It will go public within the next three years, according to the prospectus.

The listing plans for China's biggest online pharmacy follow that of JD Logistics and JD Digital Technology, JD.Com’s fintech services affiliate that is also known as JD Digits. JD Digits filed on Sept. 11 to join Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market, with the aim of raising CNY20 billion (USD2.9 billion).

JD.Com itself completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong in June in which it raised USD4.5 billion.

Last November, Beijing-based JD Health was valued at about USD7.1 billion after securing USD931 million in an A-round of financing led by JD.Com and CICC Capital. It inked a deal for USD830 million with Hillhouse Capital Group in a B-round on Aug. 17, according to its parent company's earnings report.

JD Health had revenue of more than CNY10 billion (USD1.5 billion) last year and turned a profit. JD.Com retains a controlling stake in JD Health, which also offers medical consulting services to 100,00 people a day.

Shares of JD.Com [HKG: 9618] rose 1 percent today to close at HKD290 (USD37.42) apiece, after earlier climbing 2.3 percent to touch a 52-week high of HKD293.80. In New York, the firm’s shares [NASDAQ: JD] gained 0.9 percent yesterday to USD75.13.

Editor: Emmi Laine