Southeast Asian online services firm Sea applies for NYSE listing
SINGAPORE: Southeast Asia’s Sea Ltd, which provides ecommerce and digital payments services, is eyeing a US$1 billion offering of new shares in aggregate in a proposed IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a document it has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Goldman Sachs (Asia), Morgan Stanley & Co International and Credit Suisse Securities (US) are joint bookrunners for the proposed initial public offering of its American depositary shares, the Singapore-based company said in a statement.
The number of shares on offer and the price range have not yet been determined, said Sea, formerly known as Garena, which was valued at US$3.75 billion after a March 2016 funding round.
The company, which also provides online gaming services, raised US$550 million in May for an undisclosed valuation. The company counts Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore as its key markets.
SeaTown Holdings, a subsidiary of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, and Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd are among its investors.
Southeast Asia is becoming a new battleground for e-commerce and financial technology companies that are hoping to grab a piece of the market of 600 million people where only a fraction of total retail sales are currently conducted online.
Consultancy Frost and Sullivan forecasts online product sales in Southeast Asia to grow to US$71 billion by 2021 from US$16 billion in 2016. — Reuters