Chinese fast fashion operator Shein is mulling a fresh fundraising round that could value the business at close to $100bn (£76.2bn) after shelving IPO plans.
The etail giant is in talks with a number of potential investors in a bid to raise $1bn (£762m) in new capital, according to Bloomberg.
Should it press ahead with the plans and achieve the $100bn valuation, Shein would become the third most valuable start-up in the world, behind only TikTok owner ByteDance and Elon Musk’s Space X.
Talks are ongoing, however, with the size of the fundraising round, and Shein’s valuation, still subject to change.
The ecommerce titan had reportedly been gearing up for a New York listing as it sought to capitalise on the explosion in online shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But Reuters reported in March the volatile financial markets, sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had put bosses off the idea of going public in the immediate future.
A company spokesman told Reuters it had no plans for an IPO.
Shein, which was founded in 2008, overtook Amazon last year in terms of app downloads in the US. The company has operations in Guangzhou, Singapore and Los Angeles, but sells its range of more than 600,000 products to shoppers in 150 countries.
Shein was valued at $50bn (£38.1bn) in early 2021 after global lockdowns accelerated the consumer shift towards buying clothing online.
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