Shein pushes Hong Kong IPO to September 1 as valuation slides from $98B peak

Shein Global Holdings has delayed its Hong Kong IPO to September 1, pushing back a listing that has already been years in the making. The fast-fashion retailer, which once commanded a valuation near $98 billion, is now eyeing a range closer to $26-27 billion. The postponement stems from a delay in the bookbuilding process, where the company takes orders from institutional investors. That process is now expected to begin around August 24, with the company targeting roughly $2 billion in new capital from the listing on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited. A long road to market Shein’s IPO journey has been anything but smooth. The company spent the better part of three years trying to go public, first exploring New York, then London, before finally settling on Hong Kong. Each attempt ran into its own set of obstacles, from regulatory concerns in the US to political pushback in the UK. The breakthrough came on July 10, when the China Securities Regulatory Commission gave its formal approval for the HKEX listing. Without CSRC signoff, no Chinese-founded company can list on an overseas exchange, and Shein had been waiting on this clearance for months. The numbers tell a complica...