Singapore-headquartered, Southeast Asia-based Sea, formerly known as Garena, has filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to The Straits Times, “Singapore’s first billion-dollar tech startup has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to list its American Depositary Shares (ADS) on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘SE'”.
The unicorn plans to raise US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion), according to Sea’s registration statement.
Started as gaming platform Garena in 2009 by Singaporean entrepreneur Forrest Li, it has since launched e-payments platform AirPay in 2014, and mobile-centric marketplace Shopee in 2015.
In May, following a US550 million round of funding, the Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed startup rebranded to Sea, representing the region that it is laser-focused on, and reflects their mission of ‘connecting the dots’ for their users.
Said Li, “Garena is a brand that is beloved across our game ecosystem, our Shopee brand has become synonymous with e-commerce in our region, and AirPay is quickly becoming a leader in digital financial services. […] We cherish these three brands, and are now embracing an overall identity for our entire company.”
Earlier this month, Sea also announced a new investment from Singapore’s Temasek Holdings’ subsidiary SeaTown Holdings International, Indonesia-based GDP Venture, and Japan-based Mistletoe.
Sea operates across Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, but derives most of its revenue from Thailand and Taiwan.
According to The Straits Times, Sea has been experiencing widening losses every year since 2014, and in the six months to 30 Jun this year, US$195 million in revenue was made, but there was a net loss of US$165 million “as sales and marketing expenses ballooned to US$138 million”.
At the moment, the number of shares to be offered and the price range have not yet been revealed, so watch this space for updates.
