HONG KONG: Shein raised HK$13.60 billion (US$1.74 billion) in its Hong Kong initial public offering after pricing the share sale below the top end of its marketed range, ahead of its trading debut on August 31.

The Singapore-based, Chinese-founded fast-fashion retailer offered 280 million shares at HK$48.56 each. It had said last week that shares would be offered at between HK$47.60 and HK$49.50 apiece.

The Hong Kong public offering was subscribed 5.63 times, while the international portion was subscribed 2.59 times, Shein said in a stock exchange filing Monday.

"Judging by the subscription response, I believe the oversubscription rate is relatively mild," said Kenny Ng, a strategist at China Everbright Securities International in Hong Kong.

"Some investors remain relatively cautious about its valuation" due to fluid international trade policies in recent years and the impact of geopolitical tensions on global consumer sentiment, Ng said.

Shein's shares are scheduled to begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Existing investors that participated in the offering include billionaire Michael Bloomberg's family office, Willett Advisors; French billionaire entrepreneur and investor Xavier Niel; and Microsoft, according to the filing.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance also bought more shares, as did Bolivian American billionaire Marcelo Claure's Claure Group and the SoftBank Vision Fund.

Cornerstone investors included Boyu Capital, Tiger Global Management, General Atlantic, Tencent, Greenwoods Asset Management, Taikang Life Insurance and UBS Asset Management Singapore.

The IPO book had been fully covered by investor demand despite growing business and regulatory challenges. Shein shares, however, dropped more than 10 percent in gray-market trading on August 31. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing said the same day that it would launch options and allow short selling of Shein shares from their trading debut.

Shein has said it plans to use most of the offering proceeds to improve its technology and boost brand awareness and its global presence.

The long-awaited market debut follows unsuccessful efforts to list in New York and London. Shein, which sells inexpensive clothing to shoppers in about 160 countries, has faced environmental, social and governance concerns that have led to regulatory investigations and fines in several countries.

The company is currently under investigation by the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and has said it is actively cooperating with both.

Previous investigations resulted in fines in France over alleged fake discounts and in Italy over greenwashing.

Shein said in late July that it swung to a quarterly loss of $99 million after the United States removed an import duty exemption for small packages. It also recorded a $328 million fair-value charge on convertible redeemable preferred shares following an accounting change.