Sequoia-Backed Chinese Retailer Jumei Files For $400M U.S. IPO

Beijing-based online retailer Jumei plans to hold its initial public offering in the U.S. In its SEC filing over the weekend Jumei, which offers daily deals on fragrances and cosmetics, said it wants to raise up to $400 million, but did not disclose which exchange it will list on. The company was founded in 2009 and its investors include Sequoia Capital.

Jumei says it is China’s largest online beauty retailer and held a 22.1% market share and 10.5 million customers in 2013. During that fiscal year the company made $483 million in sales.

Its filing is one of several Chinese tech companies that will or are expected to hold U.S. IPOs this year. The most notable is Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce firm, which announced last month that its public offering will be in the U.S. instead of Hong Kong as originally expected by most analysts. Its IPO may value Alibaba at more than $100 billion.

Microblogging platform Sina Weibo recently filed for a $500 million IPO and Alibaba rival JD.com is also reportedly planning a U.S. offering for later this year.

The high profile of these companies may mark a turnaround in investor sentiment toward Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. since 2012, when share prices fell after several firms pulled out of the U.S. stock market in response to accusations of improper accounting by regulators.