Fashion company Shein has confidentially filed to go public in the United States, according to two sources familiar with the matter, in what is likely to be one of the most valuable China-founded companies to list in New York, reports Reuters.
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have been hired as lead underwriters on the initial public offering (IPO), and Singapore-based Shein could launch its new share sale in 2024, the sources said.
Shein has not determined the size of the deal or the valuation at IPO, the sources said. Bloomberg reported earlier this month it targeted up to $90 billion in the float.
Shein and the banks declined to comment.
The company founded in mainland China in 2012 was valued at more than $60 billion in a May fundraising, down by a third from a funding round last year.
The most valuable China-founded enterprise to go public in the United States so far is e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, which debuted in 2014 at a valuation of $231 billion.
The fast-fashion giant's move to go public in the US comes as the market for initial public offerings is struggling to rebound after a string of lackluster stock market debuts.
In recent months there were four major IPOs, and three of them disappointed investors.
Shares of German sandal-maker Birkenstock, grocery delivery app Instacart and chip designer Arm Holdings dropped below their IPO prices in the days that followed debuts, though Arm's shares are now trading above that price.
"It doesn't strike me as the most opportune time for Shein to come public, but if they need capital the markets are open ... and investor sentiment has been more positive than it was a few weeks ago," said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at CI Roosevelt.
"When investors can review the financials, I would expect to see pretty strong growth historically ... the key question will be if they can kind of maintain the pace or to continue to gain market share going forward," he said.
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