ONLINE retail giant Shein could be fashioning a London stock market revival with the biggest listing on record. The company, described as Asos and Boohoo on steroids, has been valued at £50billion in recent fundraisings and doubled profits to £1.5billion last year.
It is now gearing up to press the button on a mega flotation in London after fearing that tensions between the US and China would derail a New York Stock Exchange listing. A float would be a big boost after a long drought of new listings and welcome change in the wave of companies ditching London for New York. Shein — pronounced She-in — is planning to file a confidential prospectus to the financial regulator as soon as this week, according to Sky News.
The size of Shein would mean that it would dwarf previous largest London listing Glencore, which floated with a £36billion valuation in 2011. It would become one of the UK’s top 15 most valuable companies and also be worth almost as much as rivals Tesco , Next and Primark owner Associated British Foods combined. Sources suggested the filing could slip to later this month.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: “While this filing does not indicate when its IPO would take place, it could be in the next few months.” It is understood Shein’s senior team have told politicians they are relaxed about tax changes to its “small parcel loophole”. Rival retailers have accused Shein of abusing the tax system by sending goods from China to customers�.
