Weibo plots $500m New York listing

China's homegrown social media sites like Weibo are booming thanks to their better knowledge of the world's largest Internet market, (GETTY IMAGES)

China’s version of Twitter is planning to raise $500 million from a stock market listing in New York later this year, according to reports.

Internet platform Sina is planning to spin-out its popular microblogging platform Weibo, which counts David Cameron, Brad Pitt and Manchester United as registered users.

The Chinese language platform is among the country’s most popular sites, with over 30 per cent of the country’s entire internet users registered on the service.

Last year Chinese internet group Alibaba bought 18 per cent of Sina Weibo for $586 million with the option to buy up to 30 per cent in the future. The stake sale valued Weibo at $3.3 billion but analysts think the service could be worth up to $5.8 billion.

The company has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse to handle the stock market float, expected in the second quarter of the year. It follows the successful listing of Twitter on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

Sina, which owns 71 per cent of Weibo, is already listed on the NASDAQ, with a market capitalisation of $4.8 billion.