Going public

The Alibaba Group, the giant Chinese e-commerce company that owns Chico-based Auctiva, has announced it will sell stock in the United States.

According to a story in The New York Times, Alibaba could raise $15 billion to $20 billion, possibly outselling Facebook’s $16 billion offering two years ago.

Auctiva was founded by Chico State grad and former Paradise resident Jeff Schlicht (pictured) in 1998, and Alibaba purchased the company in 2010. Auctiva, according to its website, provides “tools to make selling on eBay easy and profitable” and posts 3 million eBay listings a month.