Shein Alters IPO Course, Moves Forward With Hong Kong Listing Instead of London

Shein opens a new IPO chapter. The Asian ecommerce giant is working on a draft, which has not been disclosed, and is pursuing its long-awaited IPO. After the American and British refusal, the company is now trying again, much closer to its local market, in Hong Kong.

Specifically, the Chinese company, but which operates with headquarters in Singapore, is planning to submit a confidential draft to the territory’s authorities to initiate an IPO process, according to Reuters. This procedure is similar to the one followed by the Asian company in the United Kingdom, where it filed a confidential IPO.

According to sources consulted by the international news agency, Shein plans to present the draft this week. Confidential filings, such as the one the company submitted to the London Stock Exchange and, more than a year ago, to New York, allow companies to keep certain information undisclosed for a longer period of time before going public.

Shein is making its third attempt to go public

In the event that Shein finally completes the ipo filing, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange accepts the document, this would be an exception to the listing rules of the Hong Kong stock exchange. According to the territory’s regulatory rules, companies filing a confidential ipo must meet certain requirements, such as listing their parent company overseas, which is not attributed to Shein’s case.

Even if Shein received the green light from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange authorities, it would still have to pass the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (Csrc), its counterpart in China. It was precisely this body that at the end of May blocked Shein’s listing on the UK stock exchange.

The Hong Kong stock exchange is Shein’s third attempt to become a listed company. The Asian company first began its journey in the United States, more than a year ago, when it submitted an IPO to the New York Stock Exchange, which was rejected by the country’s authorities. Later, the company kept trying in London, a process that was definitively blocked a few months ago.