Sept 26 Reuters Alibaba Group on Tuesday kicked off its restructuring with a plan to list its logistics arm Cainiao in Hong Kong that would make the unit the first to be separated since the Chinese ecommerce giant announced its breakup six months ago.

Alibaba said on Tuesday it had submitted an application to spin off Cainiao Smart Logistics Network to the Hong Kong stock exchange, but that financial terms such as the size of the offering had not been finalised.

However, Alibaba, which holds a 69.54 stake in Cainiao, will continue to hold more than 50 of shares in Cainiao and it will remain a subsidiary of the company after the spinoff, Alibaba added.

Reuters reported in May that Cainiao aimed to raise between 1 billion and 2 billion. Since Alibaba cofounded Cainiao in 2013 with partners including department store owner Intime Group and some logistics firms, the unit has become a major logistics provider in its own right in China, serving thirdparty customers as well as Alibaba.

Dealmakers have said that they hope Cainiao39;s IPO, expected to be followed by market debuts from other Alibaba units in the nearterm, will revive sluggish fundraising activities in Hong Kong.

U.S.listed shares of Alibaba pared early premarket trading losses following Tuesday39;s announcement and were down 0.4 at 86.86 by 1037 GMT.

Alibaba in late March announced its biggest restructuring in its 24year history. It will adopt a holding company management model and split its business into six…