Fast fashion startup Shein hires an investment banker as executive vice chairman...

Fast fashion startup Shein hires an investment banker as executive vice chairman ahead of IPO

Fast fashion startup Shein hires an investment banker as executive vice chairman ahead of IPO

November 7, 2022 8:00 am

Shein has hired former Bear Stearns investment banker Donald Tang as executive vice chairman as part of its push to go public, Forbes reported.

Tang is known for supporting several international investors to make major deals in China. According to Forbes, Tang has worked as an advisor for Shein’s CEO and co-founder Chris Xu for over a year. He was first introduced to the company by Sequoia Capital China founding managing partner Neil Shen, a major Shein investor.

The former investment banker's appointment is part of a major push to make the Chinese fast-fashion company more appealing to Western investors, said the report.

This comes after Bloomberg reported in July, citing people familiar with the matter, that the company hoped for an US initial public offering as early as 2024. However, it faces environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns, which could be an obstacle to the IPO.

Shein, which offers a wide selection of trendy, ultra-cheap clothing, is on track to generate close to $24 billion in revenues this year. However, this corporate strategy has also come under fire for being unsustainable and unfriendly to the environment.

To improve its public profile, the company has hired ESG veteran Adam Whinston, who has 15 years of experience at Walt Disney, Hewlett-Packard, and J.C. Penney. Last month, as part of its effort to create a more circular future of fashion, the company rolled out its resale platform, Shein Exchange, in the US.

Founded in 2008, Shein counts multiple heavyweight venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, and Tiger Global Management, as its investors. While most of the company's operations, such as website and software development, clothing design and production, are in China, it only serves products for overseas markets.

In 2021, Shein surpassed Amazon for the first time as the top shopping app in the App Store in the US. Since then, the platform has been in the top five in the shopping category.

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