SHEIN reportedly secures green light for HK listing

Chinese fast-fashion giant SHEIN has reportedly won regulatory approval for its overseas initial public offering (IPO), ending a six-year saga that shifted from New York to London.

SHEIN has planned to issue up to approximately 341 million shares and list them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, according to the filing notice from China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) posted on 10 July. 

If SHEIN receives approval from CSRC, it and its advisers could seek to launch the IPO as early as the coming months, considering raising several billion dollars – the final fundraising size will depend on the company's valuation, according to Bloomberg.

According to the report, SHEIN was already under pressure from shareholders last year to cut its valuation to around US$30 billion – a fraction of the more than US$100 billion it had previously reached. Meanwhile, the brand is planning to list in September or October, after more than a year of waiting for approval from Beijing for its initial public offering, according to another Reuters report.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to SHEIN for a statement. 

SHEIN's path to going public has been rocky. The company began preparing for a US listing in 2020, and in 2023 it filed a confidential IPO application with US regulators, seeking a valuation of as much as US$90 billion.

Along the way, its listing plans were shelved twice – first due to market volatility and later because of the Russia-Ukraine war – but ultimately, regulators in both the US and China did not give the green light. SHEIN did not give up, and in 2024 it switched its focus to a London listing. However, it repeatedly failed to secure approval from Chinese authorities, eventually opting for Hong Kong instead. The company's valuation has since continued to decline, dropping from a peak of US$100 billion in 2022 to US$30 billion last year.

Don't miss: SHEIN mulls relocating to China in bid for HK IPO approval

Originally founded in Nanjing in 2008, SHEIN established its core operations in China before moving its headquarters to Singapore in 2022. Despite its Singapore base, SHEIN remains subject to Chinese regulatory oversight. The CSRC mandates that all firms with significant ties to China must undergo its review process before listing shares on any global exchange.

Related articles:

SHEIN launches probe after shirt model resembles murder suspect
SHEIN mulls relocating to China in bid for HK IPO approval
SHEIN makes a splash with Baby Shark 10th anniversary drop