Millions of sales in Switzerland: Chinese cheap fashion retailer Shein plans to go public

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Tops are under 5 francs, trousers are 10 francs, delivered to the Swiss mailbox within a few days. Cheap Chinese online retailer Shein also attracts customers here with unbeatable offers. Especially young people love the fashion of the Chinese internet giant. Shein is now embarking on the next coup: The company is apparently planning an IPO in the US.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, Shein enlisted US banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley to do so. If the IPO goes ahead, it will be the largest in recent years: Shein’s value is currently estimated at $66 billion. For comparison: The value of German shoe manufacturer Birkenstock, whose IPO also created excitement in the autumn, was $9 billion when it entered the stock market. Shein will surpass this many times over.

Forced labor, toxic substances, climate sin

It looks like Shein wants to enter the stock market next year. The company was founded in China in 2008 and is now headquartered in Singapore, but cheap goods still come from Chinese factories. The online giant’s biggest sales market is the US, where the group has become the second-largest online retailer behind Amazon. Shein is also one of the 50 highest-selling online stores in Switzerland, with an estimated turnover of 65 million francs last year.

But cheap Chinese goods also have a price, although it may not seem obvious at first glance: Shein is said to trample on the rights of its employees, and forced labor is even said to be involved in Chinese factories. Although the products are cheap, they are of poor quality and, in the worst case, even contain toxic substances.

Customers pay with their own data, and many of the designs are copied from competitors that can’t keep up with Shein’s ultra-low prices. Not to mention fast fashion’s impact on the climate: According to the non-governmental organization Public Eye, 20 cargo planes full of clothes arrive from China to Europe every day.

IPO creates transparency

At least there is one upside to the planned IPO: Anyone who wants to list their company on a U.S. stock exchange will be thoroughly scrutinized by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Before the IPO, relevant documents are made public, allowing for a deeper understanding of the opaque company’s financial situation.

Source :Blick