Shein is finally listing in Hong Kong. But has the world moved on?

Shein is finally listing in Hong Kong. But has the world moved on?

Tue, August 11, 2026 at 12:34 AM GMT+3 3 min read

Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein may finally hold its Hong Kong IPO this month, but with two aborted listings, it may have already missed the boat.

Once a VC success story, the Chinese-founded company, now headquartered in Singapore, was valued at almost $100 billion during its 2022 peak with backing from names like Tiger Global, HSG (formerly Sequoia China), General Atlantic and Mubadala Investment Company.

Shein, however, has been no stranger to controversy. In addition to disrupting traditional fashion supply chains, it has faced accusations that its suppliers use forced labor and infringe on intellectual property rights.

Today, Shein is seeking a far lower valuation of $30 billion to $40 billion, Reuters reported last week, as revenue growth has slowed in a market where investors are more focused on sectors including semiconductors, robotics and biotech. On Monday, the Financial Times reported that the company is pitching a valuation below $30 billion, about a 70% drop from its valuation peak.

"It's our strong sense that Shein—after shopping their IPO around the world only to be rejected, and the sensation for fast-fashion IPOs generally calming down, now with high-tech and biotech deals in play—simply does not seem as interesting," said Daniel Senger, managing partner at Wilton Partners.

By all measures, Shein is still a very sizeable company. But the bigger question now is whether Hong Kong investors believe it's truly worth that much.

The Hong Kong exchange (HKeX) has had a blockbuster year of stock market listings so far, trailing only the Nasdaq in IPO proceeds. According to a KPMG report, Hong Kong raised HK$209.9 billion (about $26.8 billion) across 85 IPOs in the first half of this year. This marked a 92% increase in funds raised and an 102% increase in the number of IPOs compared to the same period in 2025, KPMG said.

Most of this has been driven by A+H listings—Chinese companies that have chosen to dual list in Hong Kong as well as on the mainland. Not all of these have displayed strong post-IPO performance, suggesting that the market may still be finding its way out of the doldrums.

"The divergence in performance is a classic symptom of a recovering market. It is discerning, not indiscriminate," said Jeremy Chan, CIO of AL Capital, an Asian single-family office. "Companies like Muyuan and Eastroc, despite being high-quality issuers, faced a valuation hangover from private markets headwinds, while Rigol may have suffered from comparisons to US peers about domestic substitution cycles."

There is no certainty that this won't have some eventual bearing on Shein's listing performance. Still, Chan believes that the company's agile supply chain and diverse global revenue streams insulate it from domestic consumption factors.

Shein is already taking pre-emptive measures to soothe investors who feel they may have overpaid for their pre-IPO stock. According to its filing, the company is giving its pre-Series D, Series D and Series D+ investors a guaranteed payout equal to an 8% annual return, or $1.1 billion in total, ahead of its IPO.

This would address the massive valuation gaps between Shein's growth stage and IPO rounds, but such cash payouts are rare in Hong Kong.

"This is far more common on Nasdaq than on HKeX. While HKeX is trying to compete with the Nasdaq, I suspect this is a good trial to see how the public receives this offering," said Wilton's Senger, who is based in Shanghai.

Shein is aiming to launch its Hong Kong IPO as early as mid-August, according to reports.

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This article originally appeared on PitchBook News