Shanghai-based e-commerce platform Pinduoduo files for $1 bn US IPO

A Chinese e-commerce site called Pinduoduo, or PDD, is planning to raise at least $1 billion in a US initial public offering, as it fights for market share against giants including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The Shanghai-based firm saw revenue more than triple to $278 million in 2017, according to its filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, under the name Walnut Street Group Holding Limited. Losses rose 55 per cent to $79.5 million while transaction volumes reached 141.2 billion yuan.

PDD has become one of the fastest-growing startups in China by creating a sort of Facebook-Groupon mashup, where