BRIEF: Shein London IPO approved by British financial regulator

Britian’s financial regulator has approved a London Stock Exchange listing by Shein, bringing the online fast fashion retailer one step closer to its long-awaited goal of becoming a publicly listed company, according to media reports.

The British Financial Conduct Authority’s preliminary approval for the listing fulfills one of the last major regulatory steps for Shein’s IPO plan to proceed, according to a Reuters report on Friday. In the last major hurdle, many believe that Shein will seek approval for the listing from China’s stock market regulator, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Shein was originally a Chinese company but later moved its headquarters to Singapore. Still, most of its operations, as well as its huge supplier network, are still in China, leading most to believe the company will require CSRC permission to list outside China. The company originally planned to list in New York, but scrapped that plan after meeting political resistance from U.S. politicians.

Most recently, Shein has also faced headwinds in the U.S. from the cancellation of a policy that previously allowed it to mail parcels worth less than $800 to the U.S. duty-free. The company was valued at $66 billion after a funding round in 2023, but more recently has been pressured by its investors to lower that by about half as its profits get squeezed.

By Doug Young

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