The fast fashion giant could go be a big fish across the pond, thanks to U.S. regulators' unease
We’ve known that Shein seriously intends to go public since November. We’ve also known that it will be huge: It was considered a downgrade last year when the company was valued at more than $60 billion. One question is how much the fast fashion giant intends to raise, but now we’re not even sure where the listing will take place. The U.K.’s Sky News is reporting that London might usurp New York for the initial public offering.
The outlet says that Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer (a rough equivalent to treasury secretary in the U.S.), met with Shein executive chairman Donald Tang and that their talks were “productive.”
Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The idea of a move, which the Financial Times confirmed with two Shein investors, comes after U.S. politicians have called for closer scrutiny of a possible New York listing because Shein has Chinese roots.
In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sen. Marco Rubio said that Singapore-headquartered Shein, which was founded in China and has many operations there, should have to make more disclosures than a normal company would because “collaboration with Chinese regulators raises serious doubts that its IPO filings are complete and accurate.” If Shein wouldn’t make those disclosures, Rubio thinks the SEC should block the company’s IPO application.
One possible consequence of Shein listing in the U.K. instead of the U.S. would be carving out a place for itself in the record books. Bloomberg reports that, should the company raise more than $10.7 billion selling shares to the public, it would be the biggest British IPO ever.
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