Shein closes in on £20bn Hong Kong listing after ditching London
Shein will press ahead with a £20bn listing in Hong Kong next month after abandoning plans to go public in London last year.
The fast-fashion giant , which was founded in China but is based in Singapore, aims to raise HK$13.86bn (£1.3bn) on Sept 1.
The online retailer confirmed in a filing that it was looking to sell its stock at around HK49.50 per share, giving the business an overall valuation of about £20bn. That would value Shein well below the £50bn it was seeking just a year ago .
It also suggests its valuation has fallen by 70pc from its peak four years ago after listings in London and New York were scuppered.
The company, which sells cheap dresses and jeans in 160 countries, has been hit with allegations of human rights abuses and faces a crackdown on its business model in the EU and the US.
It had submitted papers for an initial public offering in London in 2024, but long delays in regulatory approval meant it went cold on the plan.
While it did eventually secure the go-ahead from the Financial Conduct Authority for a version of its listing plans, this was rejected by Chinese regulators, in a blow to Rachel Reeves, the former chancellor, as she sought to revive the City.
MPs had criticised the lack of transparency around the company's supply chain. Some raised concerns that it was using cotton from Xinjiang, the Muslim-majority part of China where there have been accusations that the local Uyghur population has been coerced into manual labour .
Shein has previously said it "strictly prohibits forced labour" in its supply chain.
The retailer only won Beijing's approval for a listing last month to make its public market debut in Hong Kong.
The online retailer plans to offer 280 million shares at a price between HK47.60 and HK49.50.
Its cut-price listing comes after it also faced questions regarding slowing growth, rising costs and changing market conditions.
Investors had said they were not convinced Shein could return to the growth rates that valued it at nearly $100bn (£73bn) four years ago.
In the UK, smaller retailers have accused the Government of allowing the fast-fashion giant to operate on an unfair playing field.
Under current rules, the de minimis threshold allows goods valued at £135 or less to be imported from overseas directly to consumers without customs duty needing to be paid. It was announced in last year's Budget that the exemption would be phased out in the coming years.
Shein swung to a $99m quarterly loss after the US removed similar import duty exemptions.
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