- Shein's offshore listing application approved by China's securities regulator for Hong Kong IPO
- Company may issue up to 341.6 million shares in the upcoming initial public offering
- Previous IPO attempts in New York and London faced political and regulatory obstacles
Shein's offshore listing application has been formally approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, paving the way for the fast-fashion powerhouse to issue up to 341.6 million ordinary shares and proceed with an initial public offering in Hong Kong.
This regulatory milestone comes after listing attempts in New York and London were denied or slowed due to international political and geopolitical scrutiny, and it concludes a year-long wait for Beijing's clearance to approve its IPO, which required approval from the top echelons of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
According to a notice on the CSRC website, China authorised the fast-fashion retailer much-anticipated Hong Kong IPO on Friday, as reported by Reuters.
Beijing considers Shein to be politically sensitive and has been leery of the business, further embarrassing it following a French sex-doll incident and allegations of subpar labour standards at its Chinese suppliers, the report stated.
Shein was estimated to be worth up to $100 billion in 2022, but investors later revised their estimates as the pandemic-era e-commerce boom faded and political, retail, and regulatory opposition grew. Shein was valued at $66 billion during its most recent private fundraising round in May 2023.
Shein may now be looking for an IPO valuation of between $40 billion and $50 billion. That would make it twice as big as fast-fashion retailer H&M, which is valued at about $24 billion and has lost market share to Shein, but much smaller than its primary rival, Temu's parent company, PDD Holdings, which has a $117-billion market capitalisation, according to the report.
After unsuccessful attempts to list in New York and subsequently London, Chinese-born entrepreneur Sky Xu created Shein in 2012 to succeed in Hong Kong. The company, which sells $10 jeans and $5 gowns in about 150 countries, initially applied for a US IPO in November 2023 but encountered increasing opposition from legislators and authorities.
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Shein resorted to London after the US application was delayed. A draft prospectus was accepted by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority, but China's CSRC refused to approve it.
Shein's long battle to go public serves as an example of how geopolitics has changed the way Chinese businesses look for foreign funding and how Beijing has tightened its hold on prosperous entrepreneurs since it abruptly stopped Jack Ma's Ant Group's 2020 IPO.
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