Alibaba Group splits into six units that may pursue individual IPOs

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to split its $220 billion business into six main units encompassing e-commerce, media, and the cloud, each of which will explore fundraising or initial public offerings when the time is right.

Group Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang will head up the cloud intelligence division, a nod to the growing role that AI will play in the e-commerce leader’s portfolio in the long run.

Former international retail chief Jiang Fan will head up the digital business unit, while longtime executive Trudy Dai takes up the main Taobao Tmall online shopping division.

Its other divisions include local services such as meal delivery, the Cainiao logistics group and digital media and entertainment.

“Each business group and company can pursue independent fundraising and IPOs when they are ready, Zhang said in a statement.