Twitter-like messaging service Weibo Corp filed on March 14 to raise $500 million via a US initial public offering, as Chinese companies flock to the American market in record numbers to take advantage of soaring valuations.

Weibo, owned by Sina Corp, becomes the latest Chinese Internet giant to tap US markets, following on the heels of search service Baidu and its own corporate parent. Alibaba, which owns a stake in Weibo, is expected to raise about $15 billion in New York this year, in the highest-profile Internet IPO since Facebook's in 2012.

Weibo increased ad revenue by 163 percent to $56 million in the final three months of 2013. Overall revenues leapt almost three-fold to $188.3 million in 2013, from $65.9 million in 2012. And its net loss shrank to $38.1 million in 2013 from $102.5 million the previous year.

But its user growth is at risk of tailing off after three years of explosive expansion, as newer messaging apps such as Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat draw users away.

However, Weibo said the number of its daily users had risen 36 percent to 61.4 million as of the end of December, from the same time a year before.

Weibo hired Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to manage its US debut, which it said would boost brand recognition and help retain talent.

Its proposed $500 million target is an estimate worked out solely for the purposes of calculating registration fees.

【新闻快讯】

新浪旗下微博服务已向美国证券交易委员会提交了IPO(首次公开招股)申请文件,计划筹集最多5亿美元,此举意味着新浪将分拆微博业务。

目前,新浪微博并未公布上市地点是在纽约股票交易所还是纳斯达克,主承销商是高盛亚洲和瑞士信贷。

IPO申请文件显示,去年12月,新浪微博的月活跃用户数为1.291亿,日活跃用户数为6140万。新浪微博报告的2013年营收为1.88亿美元,达到2012年的3倍,但仍处于亏损中。