SHEIN PLANS £1.3BN HONG KONG LISTING AT $27BN VALUATION

Fast-fashion retailer Shein plans to raise up to £1.3bn through an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with shares set to begin trading on 1 September. The company will offer approximately 280 million shares priced between HK$47.60 and HK$49.50, according to a filing published on Monday. At the upper end of the price range, the valuation would reach nearly $27bn (£19.8bn). Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan are backing the offering.

The Hong Kong listing marks Shein's first successful path to public markets after failed attempts to list in the United States and London since 2023, both blocked by regulatory challenges. The proposed $27bn valuation represents a substantial decline from the $100bn valuation the company received in private fundraising in 2022. The company reported a quarterly loss of $99m in the first three months of 2026, compared with net income of $395m a year earlier, reflecting slower sales growth and higher costs. Shein attributed the loss partly to US import duties imposed after President Donald Trump ended an exemption on small packages.

Feng Qu, economics associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, stated that Hong Kong has emerged as one of the world's largest IPO markets by attracting mainland Chinese companies. He noted that Shein would likely command a higher valuation in Hong Kong than in London, where regulatory scrutiny derailed its previous listing plans. Chinese firms may also prefer Hong Kong over the United States due to concerns that heightened US-China trade tensions could result in de-listing, according to Feng.