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Shein submitted an initial public offer in Hong Kong when the online fast-fashion retailer tries to accelerate an excavated listing process and put pressure on the British supervisory authority to approved a London list.
The China -based company in Singapore submitted a prospectus draft at Exchange (HKEX) in Hong Kong last week last week and, according to two people, with knowledge of the matter, applied for the blessing of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
SheinThe majority of his supply chain in China remained in London about 18 months ago, but could not be able to secure the official approval.
Great Britain and Chinese supervisory authorities do not agree on an appropriate language, which is to be used in the section of the risk in the section of his prospectus. The differences that relate in particular with the exposure of the supply chain in the circular supply in the politically sensitive region of Xinjiang, in which China was accused of violating human rights against the indigenous Uygurian population.
The British financial behavioral authority approved a version by Sheins prospectus at the beginning of this year, but the CSRC did not accept it. In recent years, the regulatory authority based in Beijing has become strictly on how companies, according to people, describe the risks associated with operational companies in China.
Shein has partly applied for in Hong Kong to put pressure on the British supervisory authority, to impair the requirements for the disclosure of the risks and to keep the largest IPO on the London market for years. Fundraising of IPOS in London has dropped to a 30-year-old low in 2025.
If the FCA is ready to accept a prospectus approved by CSRC, London would still be preferred in view of its more diverse and international investor base, people said. They added that the chances were low because the requirements of the supervisory authorities were still far apart.
In January, Liam Byrne, chairman of the British House of Commons Business and Trade Select, wrote to the head of the FCA Integrity of Sheins supply chainAfter a senior Shein had refused to answer questions about whether his clothes from Xinjiang contained cotton.
HKEX is expected to take a more tolerant view as London as Chinese companies describe political risks, and Beijing encourages companies to list overseas to prioritize Hong Kong off New York or London.
Even if HKEX and the CSRC nod the IPO brochure of Sheins and a list of Hong Kong, the FCA still would have the opportunity to approve a resulting London IPO. A double or secondary list could be taken into account if the British regulatory authority should give a green light at this time, one of the people.
Sheins IPO saga, which has been going on for almost three years, is caught in the geopolitical crossfire.
While the retailer has about $ 12 billion in cash and has no hurry to hover Shein could not win the approval People said of the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Jpmorgan were the main banks who worked on the offer from New York to London and now Hong Kong. Investment banks are usually paid for after completing an IPO. All three banks rejected a comment.
A break -in of profits last year has also collected doubts as to whether a Shein IPO would achieve the evaluation of USD 66 billion, which he achieved privately two years ago.
In 2024, sales rose by 19 percent to USD 38 billion, but but The net win was almost 40 percent Financial Times reported on 1 billion USD in February.
However, the US sales, which are around a third of the income, were not hit as hard as it was feared this year until the end of the tariff exceptions for tariff exceptions, according to knowledge of the company’s financial data. They said that Sheins had improved profitability significantly because his rival Temu has largely withdrawn from the US FASHION market due to increased tariffs.
HKEX, the FCA and Shein refused to comment.
Additional reporting by Arjun Neil Alim and Cheng Leng in Hong Kong, Martin Arnold, Laura Onita and Arash Massoudi in London.
