Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein may finally hold its Hong Kong IPO this month. But with two aborted listings, it may have already missed the boat. Once a VC success story, the Chinese-founded company, now headquartered in Singapore, was valued at almost USD 100 billion during its 2022 peak, with backing from names like Tiger Global, HSG (formerly Sequoia China), General Atlantic, and Mubadala Investment Company.
The firm has been no stranger to controversy. In addition to disrupting traditional fashion supply chains, it has faced accusations that its suppliers use forced labor and infringe on intellectual property rights.
Today, Shein is seeking a far lower valuation of USD 30 billion-USD 40 billion, Reuters reported last week. Revenue growth has slowed, with investors more focused on businesses like semiconductors, robotics, and biotech. On Monday, the Financial Times reported that the company is pitching a valuation below USD 30 billion—about a 70% drop from its peak.
“It’s our strong sense that Shein—after shopping its IPO around the world only to be rejected, and the sensation for fast-fashion IPOs generally calming down, now with high-tech and biotech deals in play—simply does not seem as interesting,” says Daniel Senger, managing partner at Wilton Partners. By all measures, Shein is still a very sizeable company. But the bigger question is whether Hong Kong investors believe it’s truly worth that much.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has had a blockbuster year of stock market listings so far, trailing only the Nasdaq in IPO proceeds. According to a KPMG report, Hong Kong raised HK$209.9 billion (about USD 26.8 billion) across 85 IPOs in the first half of this year. This marked a 92% increase in funds raised and a 102% increase in the number of IPOs compared to the same period in 2025, KPMG said.
Most of this has been driven by A+H listings—Chinese companies that have chosen to list in both Hong Kong and the mainland. Not all of these have displayed strong post-IPO performance, suggesting the market may still be finding its way out of the doldrums.
“The divergence in performance is a classic symptom of a recovering market. It is discerning, not indiscriminate,” says Jeremy Chan, CIO of AL Capital, an Asian single-family office. “Companies like Muyuan and Eastroc, despite being high-quality issuers, faced a valuation hangover from private markets headwinds, while Rigol may have suffered from comparisons to US peers about domestic substitution cycles.”
There is no certainty that this won’t have some eventual bearing on Shein’s listing performance. Still, Chan believes the company’s agile supply chain and diverse global revenue streams insulate it from domestic consumption factors.
Shein is already taking preemptive measures to soothe investors who feel they may have overpaid for their pre-IPO stock. According to its filing, the company is giving its pre-Series D, Series D, and Series D+ investors a guaranteed payout equal to an 8% annual return, or USD 1.1 billion in total, ahead of the IPO. This would address the massive valuation gaps between Shein’s growth stage and IPO rounds.
Such cash payouts are rare in Hong Kong. “This is far more common on the Nasdaq than on HKEX. While HKEX is trying to compete with the Nasdaq, I suspect this is a good trial to see how the public receives this offering,” says Senger.
Shein is aiming to launch its Hong Kong IPO as early as mid-August, according to reports.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on PitchBook.com.
