Alibaba’s workplace collaboration platform DingTalk is to reportedly split from the group’s Cloud Business Intelligence unit to seek its own IPO. This comes as the Chinese tech giant is gearing up for its major reshuffle slated for September.
The timing of the separation has not been set, but sources say the split is to be complete before the Alibaba cloud unit’s own IPO. The spinoff of the group’s fastest-growing cloud division, which is expected to be complete by May next year, is to take place via a stock dividend distribution to its shareholders with an eventual listing.
One source told Reuters that DingTalk will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Holding Group, implying the platform will closely work with the tech giant’s cloud division for its services and technology-wise.
In April, Alibaba Cloud launched its own ChatGPT-style Tongyi Qianwen, which possesses Chinese and English language capabilities. The cloud unit is to initially deploy the AI chatbot on the DingTalk software.
In March, Alibaba announced plans to restructure into six units to better respond to market needs and appease regulators worried about the group’s dominance and market influence. All units except for the group’s China-facing e-commerce group, Taobao Tmall, are seeking to go public.