Shein, the online fashion behemoth, is on the verge of taking a huge stride towards a London flotation that would value it at about £50bn and rank among the most significant – and contentious – deals in the UK’s capital markets for years.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Shein, which was founded in China but is headquartered in Singapore, is preparing to file a prospectus with the Financial Conduct Authority for approval ahead of its potential float.

City sources said on Sunday evening that the confidential filing could take place as soon as the coming week, although it could yet take place later this month.

The milestone in the listing process would be the clearest sign so far that Shein, which owns the British fashion brand Missguided, is to become London’s most high-profile public float for more than a decade.

The timing of the filing does not necessarily indicate when an initial public offering would take place, although some observers believe a summer or early autumn stock market debut in London remains on the cards.

Shein had initially targeted a New York listing but has been beset by political opposition which has resulted in a lukewarm reception from regulators.

By contrast, Sky News revealed earlier this year that Donald Tang, Shein’s executive chairman, had met Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, earlier this year, alongside other ministers and executives from the London Stock Exchange.

The meeting between Mr Hunt and Mr Tang underlined the importance that British officials are attaching to the idea of trumping the US in an effort to land the Shein IPO.

Mr Tang is also understood to have spoken to a number of frontbench Labour politicians, including Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary in recent months.

The filing of a prospectus with the FCA does not guarantee that the company will list in London, with a final decision subject to meetings with fund managers and the approval of listing authorities in the UK.

However, people close to the process said it represented a significant moment that meant a City float for Shein was now highly likely.

Shein has been at the centre of controversy over its use of cotton from the Xinjiang region of China and other issues related to workers’ rights and its vast supply chain.

If it does proceed with a London listing, Shein is expected to seek to raise over £1bn from the sale of new shares to investors.

This would, however, be relatively modest in the context of an anticipated valuation of £50bn or more.

The company was valued at $66bn in its last funding round early last year.

Last month, Sky News revealed that Sajid Javid, the former chancellor of the exchequer, has been approached about taking a role at Shein.

If the discussions proceed, they could see him either join Shein’s board or become an adviser to the Chinese-founded company.

Shein could be responsible for staging the London Stock Exchange’s second-largest IPO in history, behind the 2011 stock market debut of Glencore International, the commodities trading and mining group.

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are advising on the deal.

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Founded in China in 2012, Shein was valued at over $100bn in 2022, at which point it was worth more than H&M and Zara’s parent company, Inditex, combined.

It operates in more than 150 countries and boasts 150m users globally.

The LSE’s efforts to court Shein come during a challenging period for the City as a listing venue for large multinationals, with ARM Holdings, the UK-based chip designer, opting to float in New York rather than London.

Other companies, such as the gambling operator Flutter Entertainment and tour operator TUI, have shifted their listings away from London, citing higher valuations and more liquid markets.

In recent weeks, however, London has landed the prospective IPOs of Raspberry Pi, the personal computer maker, delivering a boost to the City.

Last month, Mr Hunt hosted a summit at Dorneywood attended by technology companies such as Raspberry Pi and Monzo, the digital bank valued at over £4bn, as part of efforts to encourage them to list in the UK.

Shein declined to comment on Sunday night.

The latest in a spate of corporate transactions in Britain’s estate agency sector will be unveiled this week when London-listed Property Franchise Group (TPFG) strikes a deal to buy the Fine and Country chain.

Sky News has learnt that TPFG will announce to the stock exchange as early as Monday that it has acquired Fine and Country and the Guild of Property Property Professionals.

The transaction will create a network of roughly 1,800 lettings and estate agents in the UK and overseas.

TPFG is said to be paying approximately £15m for the two assets, which operate through a licensing model.

They are being acquired from Nurtur, a provider of technology and communications to the residential property industry.

It will be the latest deal struck by TPFG, which recently bought the estate agency franchise group Belvoir.

The company has a market value of over £250m and has rapidly scaled to become one of the sector’s leading players.

A string of other transactions have also got under way recently, with the French banking giant BNP Paribas hunting a buyer for Strutt & Parker, the upmarket British estate agent it bought seven years ago.

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Expected falls in interest rates are likely to spur more appetite among homebuyers in the coming months, fuelling the surge in corporate activity.

Lomond Group – which was created from the merger of Lomond Capital and Linley & Simpson in 2021 – is also being prepared for auction, by owner LDC.

Meanwhile, Foxtons, the London-listed estate agent, is also the subject of incessant takeover speculation.

A TPFG spokeswoman declined to comment on Sunday, while Nurtur could not be reached for comment.

Britain’s biggest water company has been told it faces a fine of more than £40m over the payment of a shareholder dividend in spite of its poor performance.

Sky News has learnt that Ofwat notified Thames Water last month that it was minded to impose the penalty for breaching rules on the payment of dividends.

The development will pile further pressure on Thames Water as it limps towards a potential temporary nationalisation under a debt mountain of more than £15bn.

The fine being considered by Ofwat is notable because it is larger than the £37.5m payout made to shareholders last autumn, according to a Thames Water insider.

The company has the right to appeal over the proposed fine before a final decision is made, and the timing of the general election on 4 July means that a final ruling is now unlikely until after that date.

Ofwat has already postponed its draft determinations on the five-year spending and investment plans of Britain’s privately owned water companies until after the election.

It had been due to issue its initial decisions on 12 June.

Its final determinations, which are expected in December, will shape investors’ decisions about whether they can commit capital to fund the companies over the following half-decade.

Thames Water has been plunged into the biggest crisis in its history by its shareholders’ judgement that the company has become “uninvestible” as a consequence of the regulatory framework set by Ofwat.

The company, which serves more than 15 million customers across London and south-east England, counts sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from Australia, Canada, China and Britain among its shareholders.

This week, the Financial Times reported that Ofwat was considering the introduction of a “recovery regime” for financially troubled water companies to enable them to survive.

This would entail reducing future financial penalties for water leaks and pollution – both of which have stained Thames Water’s reputation in recent years.

Ofwat has refused to comment on the report.

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Last month, Sky News revealed that representatives of Thames Water’s multinational syndicate of shareholders were quitting as directors of its corporate entities after refusing to inject the billions of pounds of funding required to bail it out.

The payment of the controversial dividend from Thames Water Utilities Limited, the operating business, to Kemble Water and its affiliates, is understood to have fallen foul of rules overseen by the regulator, which aim to avoid rewarding shareholders during periods of poor performance.

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Ofwat’s intention to take action against Thames Water over the dividend payment was reported last month but without any indication of the likely size of a penalty.

Thames Water refused to comment this weekend on the specifics of the proposed fine, but has previously said: “We take our licence obligations very seriously, including those relating to the declaration and payment of dividends.”

A default on part of its holding company debts in April has raised the prospect that Thames is heading towards special administration, a form of insolvency that would effectively leave the government liable for managing a company which serves nearly a quarter of Britain’s population.

Its bonds have plummeted to record lows amid fears that lenders face steep losses in any bailout deal.

The prospect of temporary nationalisation will place it among the most pressing domestic challenges facing the next government.

Last summer, Sky News revealed that Whitehall officials had started drawing up contingency plans for Thames Water’s collapse amid fears that it might not survive.

It has since parachuted in Chris Weston, the former Aggreko chief executive, as its new boss.

Ofwat declined to comment on Saturday on the proposed penalty.