CHINESE fashion retailer SHEIN is reviving plans to list in New York this year, two people familiar with the matter said. It was not immediately clear how much the company was looking to raise from its New York debut. The initial public offering (IPO), if finalized, would be the first major equity deal by a Chinese company in the United States since regulators in the world’s second-largest economy stepped in to tighten oversight of such listings in July. SHEIN, founded by Chinese entrepreneur Chris Xu in 2008, first started preparing for a U.S. IPO about two years ago, but shelved the plan partly due to unpredictable markets amid rising U.S.-China tensions, the sources said. Both sources declined to be named as the plans are confidential. A SHEIN spokesperson said the company had no plans to go public. The Nanjing-based company is one of the world’s largest online fashion marketplaces targeting overseas consumers. The United States is its biggest market. New rules issued by China’s cyberspace administration and the offshore listing filing regime to be finalized by China’s securities regulator are set to make a U.S. listing process for Chinese firms more complicated, if not lengthier. The securities regulator’s draft rules for offshore listings targets companies where a majority of senior management are either Chinese citizens or reside in China, or whose main business activities are conducted in China. SHEIN ships to 150 countries and territories from its many global warehouses, according to its website. (SD-Agencies) |