Can a Shein float turn around retail’s IPO fortunes?

News of Shein planning a London Stock Exchange listing has been met with a lot of City gossip and intrigue. Even chancellor Jeremy Hunt has met with Shein’s executive chair in a bid to persuade him to float the company in London.

The Chinese retailer has been weighing up its options between a New York and a London listing, but it’s looking increasingly likely that it will come to the City – due as much to the regulatory obstacles it would face from US lawmakers as the attraction of London.

But is an IPO in the UK for the best? We take a look at some of the notable retailers that went public during a popular period of floats in 2020 and 2021 to see if business has been booming.

Deliveroo

• Date it went public: March 31, 2021
• IPO price: 390p per share
• Market cap at time of IPO: £7.6bn
• Market cap at time of writing: £2.2bn

Sometimes referred to as “the worst IPO in London’s history”, this highly anticipated float flopped hours after it first started trading as shares closed 26% below their listing price.

That meant almost £2bn was wiped from Deliveroo’s initial £7.6bn market capitalisation and the share price hit an all-time low in October 2022 at 76p per share, down from a peak of 395p per share in August 2021.

A period of heavy losses from Deliveroo in the aftermath of the pandemic seemed to put off some investors, and the share price has not hit previous heights since 2021.

THG

• Date it went public: September 16, 2020
• IPO price: 500p per share 
• Market cap at time of IPO: £5.4bn 
• Market cap at time of writing: £935m 

THG, which controls beauty brands such as Lookfantastic, Myprotein and Cult Beauty, saw shares surge 30% during the first day of trading.

While the stock reached 799p in January 2021, fast-forward to September that year and shares plummeted until they reached a low of 32p in October 2022.

Co-founder and boss Matt Moulding has since spoken of his regret of listing in London and has previously blamed short sellers, while others point to the fact he insisted on keeping control over the business.

He later said a US listing would have been better as he would have had “no profile” over there.

In The Style

• Date it went public: March 15, 2021
• IPO price: 200p per share 
• Market cap at time of IPO: £105m
• Market cap before going private: £1.2m

While the online fashion retailer started strongly as shares rose 19% when it first went public in 2021, the price fell 95% in the two years following.

A deal was secured in March 2023 to save the brand from collapsing into administration and In The Style is now privately owned by Baaj Capital after a sale for just £1.2m.

Recently filed accounts with Companies House show In The Style was under financial pressure in the year before the deal.

Moonpig

• Date it went public: February 2, 2021
• IPO price: 350p per share 
• Market cap at time of IPO: £1.2bn
• Market cap at time of writing: £536m 

Card retailer Moonpig went public in February 2021 following a successful run of sales during the pandemic, and its shares rose 25% within minutes of listing.

Moonpig hit a peak price of 488p per share in June 2021, but key investors have been reducing their stakes in the retailer ever since.

While there was a low of 103p per share in March 2023 the s listing is not as disastrous as some others, but it’s unlikely that Moonpig will near its peak again.

Made.com

• Date it went public: June 16, 2021
• IPO price: 200p per share 
• Market cap at time of IPO: £775m
• Market cap at time of administration: £2m

The online furniture retailer made its debut on the London Stock Exchange in June 2021 but shares fell 7% when it started trading.

While Made said it was aiming to “accelerate growth”, shares crashed 93% to October 2022 to 0.5p per share.

The retailer ended up falling into administration in 2022 before being bought by Next that November. It has since opened its first bricks-and-mortar store.

Dr Martens

• Date it went public: January 29, 2021
• IPO price: 370p 
• Market cap at time of IPO: £3.7bn
• Market cap at time of writing: £756m 

Iconic boots brand Dr Martens made its stock market debut at 370p per share, with shares climbing 22% in conditional trading ahead of full market trading days later.

It aciheved a peak share price of 515p per share in February 2021. But in April this year, shares tumbled to 67p.

Shareholder Marathon Partners Equity Management suggested Dr Martens would be better off as a private company or part of a larger, multi-brand holding company.

The six IPOs above paint a mixed picture but one thing is for sure: none of them have reached the heights first seen when they initially went public.

Looking ahead to Shein’s potential London listing, it has to be careful that it doesn’t follow a pattern of successful retailers heading for disaster.