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China’s fast-fashion giant has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, and other news organizations reported.

Shein’s listing would be one of the largest initial public offerings by a Chinese company in the U.S. and could help kickstart an IPO market that has been largely stalled since 2021, with the exceptions of the , and listings in September.

Shein has raised some $4.1 billion from private investors, . It was last valued at $60 billion in a May funding round. That valuation was down more than a third from a year earlier.

The retailer, known for its inexpensive, on-trend clothing shipped directly from manufacturers, was founded in Nanjing, China, in 2008. In 2022, it changed its official headquarters to Singapore in what was viewed as a pre-IPO move.

, and have been hired as lead underwriters for the targeted 2024 offering, Reuters reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The retailer is targeting an IPO of up to $90 billion, earlier this month.

A quiet market

A tepid investor reception for new venture-backed IPOs has kept the market for new listings subdued. Instacart and Klaviyo are trading below their IPO prices. Shares of Arm, which was majority-owned by , are up about 3% since their debut.

Market watchers who’ve spoken with ¸½½üÉÏÃÅ News said they expect the IPO market to open up somewhat in 2024, in large part because many of the companies in the large stable of unicorn startups — private companies valued at $1 billion or more — are under pressure to create liquidity for investors.

Related reading:

• Unicorns Are Thawing Out IPO Plans
• This Year’s Startup IPOs Have A Very Mixed Track Record
• Many Of 2021’s IPOs Have Flopped. What Does That Mean For 2023’s Hopefuls?
• The Biggest IPOs Of 2021 Have Shed 60% Of Their Value

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