Shein to pay nearly $40 million fees to expanded roster of Hong Kong IPO banks

By Selena Li

HONG KONG, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Fast-fashion giant Shein said it would pay up to HK$306 million ($39 million) in total fees for an expanded line up of underwriters of its Hong Kong initial public offering, its prospectus showed on Monday.

The total fee rate, accounting for roughly 2.2% of fresh capital it seeks to raise, appears lower than recent large initial public offering in the Hong Kong market.

China's autonomous driving firm Momenta Global, which paid around 3.4% in total underwriting fees in its $752 million Hong Kong listing in July.   

The lower fee structure comes as the fast-fashion giant looks to raise up to $1.77 billion, in a deal that values the company at about $27 billion

Shein said bank would enjoy a discretionary incentive fee without disclosing the rate. 

The company has assembled a larger team of banks to arrange the deal amid growing pressure to lower the valuation since the deal kick-start, due to stronger tax and regulatory headwinds and stiffer competition. 

The roster includes its three main banks – Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan – which stayed with the high-profile e-commerce giant through its earlier efforts to list in the U.S. and Britain. 

Chinese bank Haitong International and UBS were added later when it first disclosed the advisor line-up for its Hong Kong listing, followed by four more underwriters – HSBC, Bank of America Securities, Banco Santander, and East West Bank – the offering document showed. 

($1 = 7.8372 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Stephen Coates)