Economy News

Shein prices its Hong Kong IPO at about $27bn, barely a quarter of its $100bn peak

Fast-fashion retailer Shein will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September at a valuation of close to $27bn, far below the near-$100bn it reached in a private funding round in April 2022, The Guardian reports. It is offering nearly 280m shares at HK$47.60 to HK$49.50 each, which would raise roughly £1.3bn at the top of the range.

The listing has been one of the longest awaited of recent years. Plans to float in New York were blocked by regulators over forced-labour concerns, and a £50bn London listing ran into similar questions about its supply chain. Shein swung to a $99m loss in the first quarter, against a $395m profit a year earlier, after the US ended an import duty exemption on small packages; it also blamed delivery delays from the Iran war.

“The IPO is going to be a harder sell.” — Susannah Streeter, Wealth Club, via The Guardian

How each outlet framed it

• The Guardian — a forced cut in value for a company built on very low prices, and still facing scrutiny over its environmental footprint and Xinjiang cotton.
• Bloomberg — a long-awaited Hong Kong IPO targeting a valuation of up to $27bn.
• Qatar Tribune — Shein setting its Hong Kong IPO at a valuation of near $27bn.

What happened next: on 1 September Shein priced at HK$48.56, valuing it at just over $26bn, and its shares fell as much as 10% before closing almost flat, The Guardian reported; South Africa's News24 called it a “lukewarm” debut.