OREANDA-NEWS. January 15, 2015. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. is planning to raise billions of dollars from an initial public offering in Hong Kong this year of its gas-station and convenience-store unit, people familiar with the situation said.

The state-owned oil company, also known as Sinopec, could raise more than USD 5 billion by carving out its 30,000 gas stations and 23,000 convenience stores dotted across China.

The unit, Sinopec Marketing Co., received approval from the Chinese government last month for a sale of around 30% of the company, Sinopec said in December, but gave no further details on a timetable for the listing. It plans to pick bankers for the IPO after the Lunar New Year holidays—Feb. 19-21.

A person close to Sinopec said Monday the retail unit’s board would decide on the strategy for the listing, but didn’t elaborate.

Sinopec’s gas-station and convenience-store business made headlines last year as one of a handful of state-owned enterprises to be restructured. In September, Sinopec agreed to sell around 30% of its closely held retail business to a range of outside investors, including non-state-owned e-commerce firm Tencent Holdings Ltd. , for around 107 billion yuan, or about USD 17 billion, valuing the retail unit at USD 57 billion. The deal has yet to be completed.

It said then that such a sale would help it boost returns and efficiency and revitalize its gas-station business. It isn’t known whether Sinopec plans to sell more of its stake in the IPO or issue new shares.

With a fundraising size of at least USD 5 billion, Sinopec Marketing’s IPO could be one of the biggest in Asia this year, beating potential deals by state-owned firms such as debt-clearer China Huarong Asset Management Co., which could raise around USD 3 billion in a Hong Kong listing, and reinsurance firm China Reinsurance (Group) Corp, which plans to raise around USD 2 billion in the city. TPG Capital plans to explore a sale or float of Australian power company Alinta Energy for up to USD 3.6 billion in Australia.