Shanda Interactive Entertainment (NSDQ: SNDA) , the Chinese digital entertainment company, is following the footsteps of its rival company Sohu (NSDQ: SOHU), and is planning to spin off its gaming unit for an IPO on Nasdaq, the company announced today. The IPO is expected to raise as much as $800 million, Reuters estimates. Goldman Sachs (Asia) and J.P. Morgan Securities are the lead underwriters for the deal. The SEC filing detailing the planned IPO. Shanda is known for popular Chinese games such as The World of Legend, and in April it launched MMO game AION in China after licensing it from South Korea’s NCSoft. The gaming unit had revenues of $321.9 million for first six months of this year, with net income of $99.6 million.

Sohu spun off its gaming unit Changyou in a $138 million IPO on Nasdaq earlier this summer, and its shares are up 138.3 percent above their IPO price. Shows you the probable potential of the Shanda Games IPO….