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Online fast fashion firm Shein is planning to file paperwork for a potential London share listing as soon as this week, according to reports.<\/b><\/p>\n
An initial public offering (IPO) could value the company at around $66bn (\u00a351.7bn).<\/p>\n
The firm, which was founded in China and now headquartered in Singapore, stepped up preparations for a share sale in the UK after it faced regulatory hurdles and intense scrutiny in the US.<\/p>\n
A Shein spokesperson declined to comment. <\/p>\n
Shein has in the past been linked to unethical business practices, including forced labour allegations. <\/p>\n
A confidential filing with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority could lay the groundwork for a major London stock market share sale. <\/p>\n
While the move may come this week, Sky News, which first reported the story, said it could be moved to later in June.<\/p>\n
Shein filed paperwork for a potential New York listing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Reuters news agency reported in January.<\/p>\n
However, the company has faced pushback from US lawmakers over concerns about its links to China as tensions between Washington and Beijing intensify.<\/p>\n
Last year, a group of US lawmakers called for Shein to be investigated over claims that Uyghur forced labour is used to make some of the clothes it sells.<\/p>\n
“We have zero tolerance for forced labour,” Shein told the BBC at the time.<\/p>\n
The company has also faced scrutiny outside the US as speculation grows that it may list its shares in London.<\/p>\n
Last month, a reported suggest that workers for some of Shein’s suppliers are still working 75 hours a week, despite the company promising to improve conditions, a report suggests.<\/p>\n
A new investigation by Swiss advocacy group Public Eye followed up on its 2021 report, which found a number of staff across six sites in the Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou were doing excessive overtime.<\/p>\n
According to the group, who interviewed 13 employees from six factories in China supplying Shein for its latest investigation, excessive overtime was still common for many workers.<\/p>\n
Shein told the BBC it was “working hard” to address the matters raised by the Public Eye report and had made “significant progress on enhancing conditions”.<\/p>\n
Shein has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2008, and was one of many online businesses to boom during the Covid pandemic lockdowns.<\/p>\n
Its formula of offering a wide range of cheap clothes – backed up with campaigns on Instagram, TikTok and other social media – has turned it into one of the biggest fashion retailers in the world.<\/p>\n
It relies on thousands of third-party suppliers, as well as contract manufacturers, near its headquarters in Guangzhou, and is able to turn around a new item in a matter of weeks, rather than months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/picture><\/span>Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n