AAA Sea sets IPO range with $695m target

Sea sets IPO range with $695m target

Singapore-based online services firm Sea has set the terms for its US initial public offering, which will give exits to investors including internet group Tencent.

The company plans to issue almost 49.7 million American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange, priced between $12.00 and $14.00, meaning the offering will likely be between $596m and $695m in size.

Founded in 2009, Sea oversees an online business made up of digital entertainment and gaming platform Garena, e-commerce marketplace Shopee and digital financial services provider AirPay. It made a $165m net loss in the first half of 2017 from $195m in revenue.

The company has raised approximately $1.05bn in funding, though the first round it publicly disclosed was a $170m series D round in March 2016 led by Malaysian government-owned fund Khazanah Nasional, before Temasek, Global Digital Prima Venture and Mistletoe added an undisclosed sum in September.

Food supplier Uni-President Enterprises’ President International Development Corporation subsidiary subsequently joined diversified conglomerate JG Summit Holdings, Cathay Financial, GDP Venture, Farallon Capital Management and Hillhouse Capital for a $550m round in May 2017.

Early investor Tencent and its subsidiaries own a 39.8% stake in Sea that will be diluted to 35.3% in the IPO. Blue Dolphins Venture, an investment vehicle for Sea founder Forrest Xiaodong Li, will retain a 12.4% share post-IPO and Hillhouse 6%.

The underwriters for the offering will have a 30-day option to buy an extra 7.45 million shares, which could lift the size of the offering to $800m.

Goldman Sachs (Asia), Morgan Stanley International, Credit Suisse Securities (USA), CLSA, Citigroup Global Markets, Cowen and Company, Nomura Securities International, Piper Jaffray, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Mandiri Sekuritas, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co Securities, BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, Cathay Securities Corporation Offshore Securities Unit, DBS Bank and Viet Capital Securities are underwriting the IPO.

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