China’s Shein set to raise $2bn in new funding round, aims for U.S. IPO later this year

Mar 11, 2023 | News

Chinese online fashion retailer Shein is set to raise around $2bn in a new funding round this month and is aiming for a U.S. listing in the second half of this year, three people with knowledge of its plans told Reuters.

The United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is a major investor in this round as are existing investors, private equity firm General Atlantic (GA) and venture capital group Sequoia Capital China, said two of the people and a separate person with knowledge of the matter.

Tiger Global Management became a new investor, said the first two people.

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Shein cut its valuation to $64 billion in this fundraising, down by a third from a funding round a year ago, according to six sources with knowledge of the matter.

The company last month held initial talks with several investment banks to pick lead bookrunners for the U.S. IPO, said two of the sources with direct knowledge of the plans. 

The flotation, if successful, would be one of the biggest worldwide this year and a test of U.S. investor appetite for Chinese companies amid volatile capital markets and geopolitical tensions.

All sources declined to be identified as the information was confidential.

Shein said it does not currently have plans for an IPO and declined to comment further. GA, Mubadala, Tiger and Sequoia China declined to comment.

Investors who participated in Shein’s 2022 fundraising will adjust the value of the stakes they bought earlier to reflect the company’s current valuation, two of the sources said.

Shein, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Chris Xu, has grown into one of the world’s largest online fashion marketplaces since its 2008 launch in Nanjing. It produces clothing in China to sell online in the United States, Europe and Asia, selling items such as $10 dresses and $5 tops.

 

Source: CNBC

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