A
Shein
pop-up
store
inside
a
Forever
21
store
in
Times
Square
in
New
York
on
Nov.
10,
2023.
Yuki
Iwamura
|
Bloomberg
|
Getty
Images
Shein
has
confidentially
filed
to
go
public
in
the
U.S.
as
the
Chinese-founded
fast-fashion
juggernaut
looks
to
expand
its
global
reach
with
a
long-rumored
initial
public
offering,
CNBC
has
learned.
The
retailer
was
last
valued
at
$66
billion
and
could
be
ready
to
start
trading
on
the
public
markets
as
soon
as
2024,
people
familiar
with
the
matter
said
Monday.
It
is
unclear
how
much
the
company
is
currently
worth,
but
its
valuation
has
been
a
central
point
of
debate
among
Shein
and
the
advisors
it’s
working
with,
people
familiar
with
the
matter
said.
A
confidential
filing
is
common,
as
it
allows
companies
to
communicate
with
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
and
make
any
necessary
adjustments
to
their
filings
in
private.
Over
the
next
few
months,
Shein
will
likely
make
tweaks
to
its
paperwork
and
answer
numerous
questions
from
the
agency.
The
filing
will
be
made
public
once
the
company
is
ready
to
move
forward
with
its
IPO.
At
that
point,
those
communications
with
the
SEC
and
any
adjustments
to
its
paperwork
will
be
released
as
well.
Shein
has
been
on
a
meteoric
rise
over
the
past
few
years
after
it
won
over
consumers
across
the
globe
with
its
fashion-forward
designs,
endless
assortment
and
dirt-cheap
prices. But
Shein
has
faced
a
series
of
challenges
along
the
way
and
faced
accusations
of
using forced
labor
in
its
supply
chain,
violating
labor
laws,
harming
the
environment
and
stealing
designs
from
independent
artists.
The
company
is
currently
under
investigation
by
the
newly
formed
House
Select
Committee
on
the
Chinese
Communist
Party
and
has
faced
scrutiny
over
its
ties
to
Beijing.
Numerous
lawmakers,
including
16
Republican
attorneys
general,
have
called
on
the
SEC
to
ensure
Shein
isn’t
using
forced
labor
in
its
supply
chain
before
it’s
allowed
to
start
trading
in
the
U.S.
In
October,
Marcelo
Claure,
the
company’s
newly
minted
group
vice
chair
and
former
SoftBank
CEO,
told
CNBC
in
an
interview
that
Shein
is
cooperating
with
lawmakers
and
taking
time
to
meet
with
them
to
explain
the
business.
He
said,
“there’s
no
such
thing
as
forced
labor”
in
the
Shein
factories
that
he
has
visited.
But
the
company
has
repeatedly
acknowledged
that
forced
labor
has
been
found
in
its
supply
chain
and
noted
that
it’s
taking
steps
to
fix
it.
As
Shein
grew
from
an
obscure
Chinese
retailer
into
a
global
behemoth
with
headquarters
in
Singapore,
it
largely
stayed
in
the
shadows.
It
said
and
did
very
little
publicly
until
this
year,
when
it
began
to
open
up
in
an
apparent
attempt
to
prepare
for
a
U.S.
IPO.
With
Chinese
CEO
Sky
Xu
still
at
the
helm,
Shein
tapped
former
Bear
Stearns
investment
banker
Donald
Tang
to
be
its
executive
chair
and
public
face
earlier
this
year.
It
has
hosted
a
series
of
well-publicized
pop-up
events,
sent
influencers
to
its
Chinese
factories
in
a
poorly
received
public
relations
campaign
and
courted
the
business
press
with
splashy
parties
that
featured
its
independent
designers
and
other
friends
of
the
company.
Shein
has
worked
hard
to
beat
the
many
negative
accusations
that
have
come
to
define
the
company
and
has
made
its
executives
available
for
interviews
as
it
worked
to
change
the
narrative.
Recently,
it
acquired
about
one-third
of
Sparc
Group
—
a
joint
venture
that
includes
brand
management
firm
Authentic
Brands
Group
and
mall
owner Simon
Property
Group —
and
in
doing
so,
made
a
powerful
U.S.
ally
that
could
help
legitimize
the
company
in
the
eyes
of
U.S.
regulators.
As
part
of
the
deal,
Shein
has
partnered
up
with
former
rival
Forever
21
to
unveil
a
co-branded
clothing
line
that
will
see
Shein
design,
manufacture
and
distribute
the
clothes
primarily
on
its
website.
Shein
has
been
hosting
pop-up
events
inside
of
Forever
21’s
stores.
Shein
still
has
more
work
to
do
before
it
can
win
the
trust
of
U.S.
regulators.
Beyond
its
myriad
of
issues,
its
CEO
remains
a
mysterious
figure
who
doesn’t
give
interviews
or
speak
publicly
about
the
company.
The
practice
is
a
major
departure
from
other
firms
that
are
publicly
traded
in
the
U.S.,
which
regularly
make
their
CEOs
available.
In
October,
the
company
did
not
tell
CNBC
whether
Xu
is
still
a
Chinese
citizen.
The
company
has
tapped
Goldman
Sachs,
JPMorgan
and
Morgan
Stanley
to
be
the
lead
underwriters
on
the
offering,
the
people
said.
Shein
declined
to
comment.
Goldman
Sachs,
JPMorgan
and
Morgan
Stanley
did
not
comment.
Earlier
Monday,
Chinese
media
reported
on
Shein’s
filing.
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