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Reuters reported that online fast-fashion retailer Shein has launched its initial public offering in Hong Kong at a valuation of up to $27 billion, a significant reduction from earlier private market estimates. The company is offering 280 million shares priced between HK$47.60 and HK$49.50, which would raise as much as HK$13.86 billion or roughly $1.77 billion at the top of the range. Shein plans to announce the final price on August 31 with trading set to begin on the Hong Kong exchange on September 1, backed by investment banks Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.
The top-end valuation represents a drop of around 70 percent from the $98.2 billion private fundraising peak Shein reached in 2022, according to Reuters data that also placed the company at $64 billion in 2023 and April 2024. A Reuters exclusive earlier in the month had indicated the firm was seeking between $30 billion and $40 billion before settling on the lower range amid investor caution over growth prospects. The adjustment reflects slower revenue expansion, higher costs from tariffs and compliance, and competition from rivals such as PDD Holdings’ Temu platform.
Shein reported a net loss of $99 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a $395 million profit a year earlier, the prospectus filed with the exchange showed. The swing followed the Trump administration’s removal of the de minimis import duty exemption on small packages from China, which triggered a 14.3 percent decline in US revenues during the quarter. The company has reserved about $80 million to cover potential liabilities from ongoing regulatory investigations including a US Federal Trade Commission inquiry and European Union probes into data privacy and digital services.
According to the prospectus, cornerstone investors led by existing backers Boyu Capital, Tiger Global and General Atlantic have committed roughly $383 million to the offering, with additional participation from Tencent, Greenwoods Asset Management, Taikang Life Insurance and UBS Asset Management. Shein indicated it would direct around 80 percent of the proceeds to enhance its technological infrastructure and expand its international brand presence while also allocating up to $3.5 billion in cash payments to certain earlier private investors. The structure grants shares sold in the IPO only one-tenth the voting rights of those held by founders, allowing co-founders Sky Xu, Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Tony Ren to retain about 90 percent control.
Lorraine Tan, director of equity research for Asia at Morningstar, said the valuation decline largely reflects changed prospects for the company since its IPO was first considered two or three years ago. She added that global investor interest has probably cooled as a result, leading to the reduced listing price. Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law and former head of North America for China’s sovereign wealth fund, stated that public investors are no longer paying for hyper-growth but underwriting a mature cross-border platform that must defend profit margins against trade tariffs, higher compliance costs and regulatory scrutiny in the US and China.
The Singapore-headquartered company, which received approval from Chinese regulators in July, had abandoned previous listing efforts in New York and London due to political and regulatory hurdles, a Reuters assessment found. Net profit for 2025 fell 38.7 percent to $2.06 billion even as full-year revenue rose from prior levels, according to filings that also project first-half 2026 revenue growth in line with the first quarter’s 1.1 percent pace. Analyst Dickie Wong at uSMART Securities in Hong Kong noted he was not positive on the IPO given the slower growth outlook and ongoing regulatory pressures.
