Chinese fashion retailer Shein is in talks to raise up to $3 billion at a reduced valuation of $64 billion, the financial times reported Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The latest valuation would be nearly 36 percent below the $100 billion the company was reported to have been valued at in a funding round last year.
Stocks of big tech and growth companies bore the brunt of a prolonged slump last year, made worse by aggressive interest rate hikes that sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index tumbling 33 percent. in 2022.
A sell-off in global markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions served as a final blow, prompting companies including Shein to suspend their US listing plans, Reuters reported on last year.
The online retailer is seeking to close a new round of fundraising from existing investors, including Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, venture capital group Sequoia China and private equity group General Atlantic, the report added.
“Shein disputes the accuracy of some of the information,” a spokesperson said, declining to give further details.
Shein, which does not sell in China, has become one of the world’s largest online fashion marketplaces since its launch in 2008 in Nanjing. It produces clothing in China to sell online in the United States, its largest market, Europe, and Asia.
Items like $10 dresses and $5 tops help bring hundreds of millions of visitors to your website each month.
The company made about 100 billion yuan ($15.7 billion) in revenue in 2021 and was valued at $50 billion earlier that year.
The company has long faced criticism over labor conditions throughout its supply chain. His ultra-low prices and lack of transparency have also prompted labor watchdogs, including the Worker Rights Consortium and the Business & Human Rights Resource Center, to question how he produces his merchandise at such low prices.
By Niket Nishant and Mehnaz Yasmin; Edited by Maju Samuel and Shailesh Kuber
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The Chinese retailer’s influence on manufacturing has been just as seismic. Now the breakneck supply chain pioneered by Shein is allowing a new swath of brands to make the most of operating in the colossal retailer’s wake.
Source: news.google.com