Online fast-fashion giant Shein, which has gone to great lengths to separate itself from its Chinese roots, has now found itself having to return to Beijing to seek authorities’ tacit approval for its blockbuster overseas initial public offering plan.
In recent weeks senior executives of the company, valued at more than $60bn in its most recent private fundraising, have been holding discussions with regulators in the Chinese capital to get their blessing for an imminent listing in New York, according to multiple people briefed on the talks.
The regulatory situation is unclear, given Shein’s unique status as a start-up that originated in China with a Chinese founder but has moved its headquarters to Singapore and does not generate any revenue in the country of its birth.