Singapore-based Sea raises US$1.35b in share sale

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Sea Ltd, operator of South-east Asia's biggest gaming platform, has raised US$1.35 billion (S$1.83 billion) after increasing the size of a follow-on stock offering.

The Singapore-based internet company sold 60 million American depositary shares at US$22.50 apiece, or about a 6.5 discount to its last close in New York. An affiliate of Tencent Holdings as well as a separate firm linked to one of Sea's directors are expected to buy 6.3 million of those shares at those terms, Sea said in a statement.

Sea is adding to the US$14.2 billion Asian-Pacific firms have raised through equity offerings in the US over the past 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Chinese e-commerce operator Pinduoduo priced a US$1.6 billion follow-on offering in February after raising a similar amount in a July initial public offering, the data show.

Sea, which counts WeChat operator Tencent as a major shareholder, initially envisioned a sale of 50 million shares. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint bookrunners for the offer, which is expected to close on March 8.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.