Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN is reviving plans to list in New York this year and its founder is considering a citizenship change to bypass proposed tougher rules for offshore IPOs in China, 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.

The sources said SHEIN founder Xu was eyeing Singapore citizenship partly to bypass China’s new and tougher rules on overseas listings. The change in citizenship, if applied for and successful, would ease the path to an offshore IPO, they said.

Neither Xu nor other SHEIN executives have applied for Singaporean citizenship, the company spokesperson said, without elaborating. Xu did not respond to Reuters queries sent via this spokesperson.

New rules issued by China’s cyberspace administration and the offshore listing filing regime to be finalised 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.

VALUATION JUMP

SHEIN ships to 150 countries and territories from its many global warehouses, according to its website.

It made around 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in 2021, taking advantage of the pandemic that shifted global consumption online, said one of the sources and another person with knowledge of the matter. Its valuation was around $50 billion in early 2021, they said.

VALUATION JUMP

SHEIN ships to 150 countries and territories from its many global warehouses, according to its website.

It made around 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in 2021, taking advantage of the pandemic that shifted global consumption online, said one of the sources and another person with knowledge of the matter. Its valuation was around $50 billion in early 2021, they said.

The valuation is estimated to have as much as doubled in the past year, one of the first two sources said.

The company, whose investors include Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital and Tiger Global, was valued at $15 billion in its last funding round in August 2020, according to CB Insights data.

According to Coresight Research, SHEIN’s estimated sales in 2020 jumped 250% over the preceding year to $10 billion, with over 2,000 items added on its website weekly.

The SHEIN spokesperson said as a private company it did not disclose financial figures.

SHEIN has hired Bank of America (BAC.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JPMorgan (JPM.N) to work on the IPO, said the source with knowledge of the company’s valuation, and another person familiar with the matter.

Credit: Kane Wu and Scott Murdoch; Reuters

Uber customers are suffering from a ‘cancel culture’ of abandoned fares as the tech giant finds itself locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with drivers.

Passengers are complaining of being left stranded at the roadside, with some drivers admitting they accept but then reject more than half the jobs they are offered through the ride-hailing phone app.

A change in drivers’ terms and conditions and a hike in petrol prices means they will often accept only the most profitable fares, but the issue has caused frustration among passengers.

Complaining on social media yesterday, one woman called Estelle wrote: ‘So 12 Ubers have cancelled on two young women in the middle of Central London between 4am and 5am in the morning on New Year? We’re getting hypothermia.’

A shortage of drivers has been blamed on soaring wages in other sectors, such as home delivery and logistics, which has seen many switch jobs. 

At the same time there has been a 40 per cent rise in passenger numbers due to people avoiding public transport during the pandemic.

In November, Uber increased its rates by ten per cent in London as part of an attempt to entice drivers back. 

It has also been told to guarantee workers more employment rights after courts decided its 40,000 drivers are not self-employed and should be paid the national living wage and offered holiday pay.

An Uber spokesman said: ‘In recent months demand for Uber rides has soared, leading to higher driver earnings. 

‘With drivers also receiving new worker rights such as weekly holiday pay and a pension, there has never been a better time to drive with Uber. 

‘We are continuing our efforts to sign up an additional 20,000 drivers to help meet this growing demand.’

But Zamir Dreni, vice-chairman of the App Drivers And Couriers Union, who has been driving for Uber since 2012, said: ‘People are not being paid properly, and that’s why they have to pick and choose the jobs that they take.

‘It’s not the drivers letting you down, it’s the app. The company is exploiting drivers and as a result the public are left stranded.’

Credit: LUKE BARR and SAM MERRIMAN FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY