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According to Reuters, China-founded fast fashion retail company Shein plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the US next year. The report says the company confidentially filed for its public debut and hired leading Wall Street banks as its underwriters. Shein was last valued at over $60 billion in a May funding round, meaning this could be one of the biggest US listings for a China-founded company.

Shein Reportedly to Go Public in 2024

Shein, a Chinese fast fashion retailer headquartered in Singapore, has confidentially filed to go public in the US, Reuters reported on Monday. Per the report, the company hired Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley as lead underwriters on the planned IPO.

The report said the retailer is reportedly looking to launch its new share sale at some point in 2024, and it would likely make Shein one of the most valuable China-founded companies to trade in the US.

Shein has not yet ascertained the size of the deal or its IPO valuation, although Bloomberg reported earlier that the company targeted up to $90 billion in the float. The fashion retailer was valued at over $60 billion in May, down more than 30% from a 2022 funding round.

The most valuable Chinese company that went public in the US is ride-hailing firm Didi Global, which debuted two years ago at a valuation of $68 billion.

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IPO Market Still Struggling Despite High Expectations

Shein’s decision to stage a US debut comes amid a critical period for the IPO market, struggling to bounce back after multiple major debuts failed to live up to investors’ expectations.

Notably, there were four major IPOs in recent months in the US, and three of those companies saw their stock price decline in the following days. Those include German shoemaker Birkenstock, grocery delivery firm Instacart, and SoftBank’s UK-based chipmaker Arm Holdings. However, Arm’s shares are currently trading above its IPO price.

“It doesn’t strike me as the most opportune time for Shein to come public, but if they need capital the markets are open … and investor sentiment has been more positive than it was a few weeks ago.” – said CI Roosevelt’s senior portfolio manager Jason Benowitz.

Although expectations were much greater initially, US IPOs raised roughly $23.64 billion so far in 2023, slightly above the $21.3 billion during the same period in 2022. Both figures are far from the $300 billion raised in 2021 when the IPO market was booming.

If it goes public as the report suggests, do you think Shein’s debut could positively surprise investors? Let us know in the comments below.