When Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. files its paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for what is expected to be one of the biggest initial public offerings in history, investors will finally get a look under the under the hood of this massive and fast-growing company.

在中国电商巨头阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)向美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission)提交首次公开募股(IPO)相关文件之时，投资者总算可以一窥这家快速增长、规模庞大的公司的内情。阿里巴巴IPO预计将会是历史上规模最大的IPO交易之一。

While little known to most Americans, Alibaba's position as the biggest play on e-commerce in the world's second-largest economy means it will draw intense scrutiny from money managers.

尽管阿里巴巴并不为多数美国人所熟知，但作为中国这个世界第二大经济体的电子商务龙头，阿里巴巴肯定会受到投资经理人的密切审视。

As investors try to figure out how much Alibaba stock will be worth, the major question is how fast Alibaba will grow in coming years. Right now, little is known about the details of the company's businesses, aside from some basic details made public thanks to Yahoo Inc., a long-time investor in Alibaba.

投资者在预估阿里巴巴股价时的一个重要问题是，阿里巴巴未来几年的增长速度会有多快。眼下除了阿里巴巴长期股东雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc.)公布的一些基本细节外，人们对该公司业务知之甚少。

Alibaba's IPO prospectus will hint at some answers.

阿里巴巴的招股说明书或将解答一些疑惑。

1 WHAT'S GOING PUBLIC?

1，哪些业务参与上市？

Alibaba operates dozens of businesses-sharing traits with the likes of eBay Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. The sprawl has led to some confusion among U.S. investors, said Victor Anthony, an Internet media analyst at Topeka Capital Markets. 'Investors are uncertain exactly what assets will be included as part of the IPO,' he said.

与eBay Inc.、亚马逊(Amazon.com)和谷歌公司(Google Inc.)一样，阿里巴巴经营着数十种业务。Topeka Capital Markets互联网媒体分析师安东尼(Victor Anthony)称，阿里巴巴种类繁多的业务令美国投资者感到困惑。他说，投资者不确定IPO到底包括哪些资产。

Among its units, Alibaba's Taobao site offers a consumer-to-consumer marketplace. Brands like Nike and Disney use its Tmall site as a marketplace to sell directly to Chinese consumers. Alibaba also has a 'cloud-computing' business that, like Amazon's Web Services unit, lets companies rent computer storage and processing power over the Web rather than buying their own servers.

阿里巴巴的淘宝网(Taobao.com)是一家消费者间(C2C)购物平台，而耐克(Nike)、迪士尼(Disney)等品牌在阿里巴巴旗下天猫网(Tmall.com)上向中国客户直接销售产品。与亚马逊的互联网服务部门一样，阿里巴巴也设有云计算业务，企业可租用其计算机，通过互联网进行数据存储和处理，而无需自行购买服务器。

One thing that won't be included in the deal, according to analysts and Wall Street Journal reporting, is the Alibaba-affiliated PayPal-like company Alipay.

据分析人士及《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)报道，阿里巴巴旗下类似贝宝(PayPal)的第三方电子支付平台支付宝(Alipay)将不在此次上市的业务范围内。

2 WHAT'S THE REVENUE BREAKDOWN?

2. 收入明细

While Alibaba's recent overall revenue figures are known, it's unclear exactly what parts of the company are driving that growth. The IPO filing is expected to show which business lines are most important, which are picking up steam and which are slowing.

虽然阿里巴巴最近的整体收入数字是众所周知的，但推动这种增长的到底是该公司哪些业务并不清楚。IPO文件预计将显示出其哪些业务线是最重要的，哪些业务在加快发展，哪些在放缓。

Bernstein & Co. analyst Carlos Kirjner estimates the Taobao and Tmall sites accounted for a combined 85% of Alibaba Group's revenue in the 2013 fiscal year, according to a note to clients. But for now, 'it is hard to be very precise.'

Bernstein & Co.分析师Carlos Kirjner给客户的一份报告显示，他估计淘宝和天猫网站合计在阿里巴巴集团2013财年总收入中占了85%的比例。但目前是多少很难精确估计。

3 HOW MUCH MONEY GETS SPENT THROUGH ALIBABA?

3. 通过阿里巴巴交易的资金数量有多大？

Alibaba is largely a middleman, helping sellers market their wares and buyers find what they need. And for the most part, it makes money by charging commissions on those sales. That makes transaction volumes one of the more important metrics points for investors looking to understand both Alibaba and the growth of China's online retail market in general.

阿里巴巴基本上扮演着中间人的角色，帮助卖家营销商品，同时也帮助买家找到他们所需的东西。在很大程度上，阿里巴巴的收入是通过对这些销售收取佣金。因此投资者如果想要了解阿里巴巴乃至整个中国网络零售市场的增长状况，交易量就成了更为重要的度量指标之一。

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall sites reached $240 billion in combined transaction volume last year. By way of contrast, EBay posted $76.5 billion last year in so-called 'gross merchandise volume' excluding vehicles.

《华尔街日报》曾报道，阿里巴巴旗下淘宝和天猫网站去年合计交易量为2,400亿美元。相比之下，EBay宣布去年除汽车之外的商品交易额为765亿美元。

4 HOW MUCH CASH DOES THE COMPANY HAVE?

4. 该公司持有多少现金？

Alibaba has spent more than $3.5 billion since the start of last year on acquisitions, The Wall Street Journal has reported. Investors will want to know if it can continue its buying spree, and if so, what types of companies is it looking to acquire? IPO filings typically contain a balance sheet and cash-flow statement which detail how much cash the company is generating, and how much it has in the bank. Investors will also likely have questions about what the company plans to do with its cash. But investors may not get all the info they want on this front, as IPO documents are typically light on management predictions about future deal making.

《华尔街日报》曾报道，阿里巴巴自去年年初以来已经斥资逾35亿美元用于收购。投资者们希望知道这样的收购狂欢能否继续，如果可以，阿里巴巴又会收购什么样的公司？IPO文件通常包括资产负债表和现金流量表，其中会详细列出上市公司产生的现金，以及在银行存有多少资金。投资者还可能对该公司计划如何运用其现金产生疑问。但在这个问题上，投资者可能无法获得他们想要的全部信息，因IPO文件通常缺乏管理层对于未来交易的预测。

5 WHAT WE WON'T KNOW:

5. 我们所不知道的情况：

For starters, how big the IPO actually will be. The top of the filing will include a proposed dollar value of the size of the IPO, but this number is just a placeholder used to calculate certain fees and is almost sure to change. The company will disclose its estimated valuation in an amended F-1 filing when it launches its marketing 'road show' months later. Knowing Alibaba's proposed valuation is crucial to investors, who will compare valuation metrics like its price-to-earnings ratio with those of already-public peers. The first filing will also lack details on how many shares the company or existing holders are offering, and may not detail first-quarter financial results.

首先是这桩IPO实际的规模。文件开头会有拟进行IPO规模的美元价值，但这个数字只是象征性的，用于计算某些费用，所以到时候几乎肯定会发生变化。阿里巴巴几个月后进行上市路演时会在修订后的F-1上市文件中披露估计的IPO规模。这一预估数字对投资者至关重要，后者会将市盈率等估值指标与已上市的同类公司相比。最初的文件也不会披露该公司或现有股东即将发行的股票数量，并可能不会给出详细的一季度业绩。