Sea Ltd.
Gokongwei-led conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. has obtained a foothold in regional e-commerce by investing in Singapore-based Sea Ltd., an internet platform company focused on greater Southeast Asia.
JG Summit is among the institutional investors that participated in Sea’s new round of funding amounting to $550 million, based on a press statement released by Sea on Monday.
“We look forward to working closely with Sea to deepen its presence in the Philippines and to nurture the growth of our country’s eSports and e-commerce ecosystems,” said Lance Gokongwei, president and chief operating officer of JG Summit Holdings.
Majority of the new capital will be invested in the growth of its e-commerce platform Shopee, with a
focus on key markets such as Indonesia. Shopee has more than doubled in size in the past nine months and now has an annualized gross merchandise value exceeding $3 billion, the statement reported.
Founded in 2009 as Garena Interactive Holding Ltd., Sea is the company’s new brand at the corporate holding company level to reflect its leadership across multiple platforms.
“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,” said Sea founder, chair and group chief executive officer Forrest Li. “We cherish these three brands, and are now embracing an overall identity for our entire company.”
“Our new name draws inspiration from the acronym for our region, symbolizing our strong ‘home court advantage.’ In addition, the sea connects every one of our markets, symbolizing our corporate motto of ‘connecting the dots.’ Finally, Sea is a humble, authentic word that evokes the pioneering spirit of exploration – a wonderful symbol of our corporate values,” added Li.
The statement did not say how much JG Summit invested in Sea.
Apart from JG Summit, other investors in this round of funding included:
– Cathay Financial Holding Co., Ltd., a leader in the insurance, securities, and banking industry in
Taiwan;
– Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C., a global institutional asset management firm;
GDP Venture, a leading growth investor focused on the Indonesian consumer internet industry
and an existing investor in Sea;
– Hillhouse Capital, a global firm of investment and operating professionals who manage over US$25 billion in assets on behalf of institutional clients such as family offices, sovereign wealth funds,
pensions, and U.S. and European university endowments and foundations; and,
– President International Development Corp., an investment arm of Uni-President Enterprises Corp., which is one of the largest food conglomerates in Asia and also one of the largest retailers in Taiwan.