Business The City was gripped today by multi-billion pound hopes for a blockbuster market debut from a big-name global company, in a move that would light up the London stock exchange after its long, hard winter. Shein – one of the world’s fastest growing and most influential global fashion brands – was reported to be moving nearer listing its shares in the City, by filing paperwork with regulators as soon as this week. Any such initial public offering (IPO) is thought to worth over £50 billion.
A Shein float would be the biggest in London since 2011, when Swiss commodities trading giant Glencore was valued at £36 billion And it would be big enough to propel Shein into the FTSE 100. If the firm was valued at £51 billion, it would put it in twelfth place on the main stock index. It would slot in just above the operator of the market itself, London Stock Exchange, and just under British American Tobacco.
Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets said: “This deal would add strength to the FTSE 100 brand, indicating that London is an attractive place to list. “It would add weight at a time when many have been questioning the credentials of the index compared with its US counterparts.” Such a high-profile arrival could become a major turning point for the City.
Ever since one of its former darlings – Arm Holdings – chose New York over London when it returned to life as a public company worth $55 billion (£43 billion) in 2023, there have been concerns about relatively lowe.
