Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's biggest e-commerce company, denied a report that it is in talks with investment banks for an initial public offering.

Yang Lei, the compan's public relations director, said in a phone interview on Jan 17: "Alibaba didn't hire any banks to arrange an IPO.”

Bloomberg earlier reported that investment banks are competing for a role in helping Alibaba going public, citing three anonymous sources. Bloomberg said an offering could take place this year, and could possibly raise $3 billion to $4 billion, according to an estimate from one of its sources.

Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma stepped down as CEO on Jan 15. This followed Alibaba's organization restructuring on Jan 10, which transformed its seven business groups into 25 business units.