Food giant Cofco Group’s online retailer Womai is hoping to raise up to HK$600 million (US$76.8 million) in an IPO.

The time of listing is not decided yet, according to the company’s prospectus. The company made its listing application at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this week.

Backed by Cofco and Baidu, Womai could raise $500 million to $600 million, says a report by Global Capital. The IPO sponsors are China Merchants Securities and Credit Suisse.

Womai, started in 2009, has been losing money for the past three years to the level of RMB631 million (US$96 million), RMB978 million and RMB887 million. The company forecasts it will continue to post losses for the foreseeable future.

Its loss for this year’s first half was RMB839 million.

Womai says it cannot guarantee it will achieve positive cash flow, but is investing intensively on delivery infrastructure and a technology platform to support its efforts to broaden its range of products.