‘Zero Conversations’ about the valuation of London’s OPI, says Shein Boss

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Shein’s executive president has insisted that neither investors nor the management of the fast fashion retailer have expressed concern for him for the valuation of the company, since he pursues a london list of exuberance in front of commercial tariffs and a hard competition.

Donald Tang told The Financial Times that none of his existing investors, which include China, now known as Hongshan, General Atlantic and the Sovereign Sovereign Fund of Abu Dhabi Mubadala, had increased any complaint about Shein’s assessment before an initial public offering planned.

“For me, if someone is not happy, they haven’t told me yet. I have only spoken with our existing shareholders, nothing more than happiness, “he said in an interview in which he repeatedly refused to directly discuss the company’s OPI plans, which he called” the elephant in the room. ”

Shein was valued at $ 66 billion during his most recent financing round in 2023. But some investors and other interested parties have been agitated for the valuation of approximately $ 30 billion, Financial Times previously reported a measure that could help him complete an OPI in the first half of this year.

Tang, who joined the group founded with China in 2022 to help lead a stock market list, said there had been “zero conversations” between Shein’s management on having to reduce its assessment.

“When we really ask ourselves, there will be that question (about the valuation), but we will not be public at this time. . . We had no conversation so far, zero, ”he said.

Shein, now based in Singapore, first launched plans to make public in New York at the end of 2023, but turned to the United Kingdom after being rejected by the United States Stock Exchange and Securities Commission. Even with a very small assessment, a flotation would be one of the largest in this decade in the London market, which has fought to attract and retain large international listings.

The company, The cheap garments that send cheap garments made mainly in Chinese factories directly to buyers around the world, faces a strong competition of the Rival Temu group and the uncertainty about the future of a key exemption to the import tariffs of the US. UU. For packages worth less than $ 800.

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, last month ended the exemption of “Minimis” before putting the movement waiting when the plots accumulated at the entrance points to the United States. Trump also introduced an additional 10 percent rate on China imports, and then doubled it to 20 percent last week.

Shein suffered a 40 percent drop in net earnings at $ 1 billion in 2024, people with knowledge of their internal projections told FT previously.

Tang said that investors were “very happy because.. We have improved efficiency, we have reduced waste. And continue to grow in a robust and profitable way on scale.”

He acknowledged that there had been “fluctuation” on the company’s profit margins, but said the group had gone through a previous interruption, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He refused to be attracted to the impact on Shein since the closing of the fiscal escape “of Minimis”, but said that the group was “resistant and agile”, and added that “it has always had a globalized model, so we have already begun to make global diversification.”

Shein previously told investors that a list could occur as soon as April, but an OPI could be pushed to the second half of this year while navigating the challenges, including changes in the tariff rules of the United States.

When asked if now it was more likely that Shein was published in the second half of the year, said: “You would like to spend sooner rather than later.”

The company presented confidential paperwork from the IPO to the United Kingdom Market Regulator in June. Tang refused to comment on progress towards a list, since Shein expects the approval of regulators in the United Kingdom and China.

“If I am having an agreement with others to make everything confidential, I will not violate that pact,” he said.

But he said that when passing through the listing process, the company “can adopt the universal mechanism for responsibility and transparency because there are requirements instead of optional” regarding the information that public companies must disclose.

“In doing so correctly, we can win the greatest amount of public confidence,” he said.

Shein was founded in 2012, but her sales were turbocked by the boom in online purchases during pandemic. He has faced the scrutiny of politicians and activists for accusations of bad work practices in their supply expansions.

The company was accused by a British deputy in January of “not respecting” a parliamentary committee. It followed an appearance of Shein’s main lawyer in Europe in which he refused to answer the committee’s questions about the origin of cotton used in his products and if he acknowledged that he had forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.

Tang said that Shein later wrote to the parliamentarians answering all the questions. Shein has said she has a “zero tolerance policy” for forced labor and it is understood that much of its cotton comes from Australia and the United States.

Although Shein initially sought to list in the United States, Tang acclaimed London as a “fantastic capital market.” “It has the best time zone, the best language. It has the best separation between legality and politics, and has it. . . One of the highest standards of responsibility, ”he said.