South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is seeking an initial public offering in New York under the ticker symbol CPNG, which could raise $3.6 billion in one of the largest initial public offerings by an Asian company in the United States.

Coupang and some existing shareholders will sell 120 million shares at between $27 and $30 each, according to a March 1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At the high end of that range, Coupang would be valued at $51 billion.

Coupang is a South Korean cross-border e-commerce company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Seoul. The company has made a splash in South Korea with its "Rocket Express" service, which promises delivery within 24 hours, shaking up family-owned retail groups such as New World Department Store and Lotte. Coupang, one of South Korea's most popular e-commerce companies, has been growing faster than other South Korean companies in the face of fierce competition from retailers and startups. The company is also aggressively expanding into express delivery and logistics.

South Korea's e-commerce market is expected to reach $141.8 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent, according to data analysis firm GlobalData.

The IPO would also mark a major victory for SoftBank's Vision Fund, which stands to reap a huge return on investment from a successful IPO of Coupang. SoftBank invested $1 billion in Coupang in 2015, and the Vision Fund invested another $2 billion in 2018. According to A March 1 filing by Coupang, the Vision Fund will own about 37 per cent of the company's Class A shares after the listing, propELLING the fund's rapid turnaround from huge losses to record profits.

It would be the fourth-largest US listing by an Asian company on record, according to Bloomberg data. The IPO is expected to be valued in the $46 billion to $51 billion range, according to data provider Pitchbook, a huge leap from Coupang's last private funding round in 2018, which valued it at about $9 billion.