The company, formerly known as Garena, is said to be eyeing a listing in 2018

Singapore internet giant Sea is planning to file for a US$1 billion IPO in the US, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The company, formerly known as Garena, had filed with US Securities and Exchange Commission a few weeks ago. Sea is said to be eyeing a listing in early 2018.

Talks of Sea’s intention to list has been swirling in the tech rumour mill since late last year. According to a Wall Street Journal report in December 2016, the company was said to be considering an IPO via the New York stock exchange.

This new development comes after Sea’s latest US$550 million injection mere weeks ago. Sea disclosed that the majority of the new funds will be used to expand its e-commerce arm Shopee in Indonesia.

Also Read: Garena Thailand CEO Nok: Thais are very open-minded so we like to test products in Thailand first

Founded in 2009 by Forrest Li, Sea was last valued at US$3.75 billion back in 2016. Previously, its backers include Malaysian Government strategic investment fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah); Canada pension fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; private-equity firm General Atlantic LLC; and Keytone Ventures.

This year, its new backers include GDP Venture; JG Summit Holdings Inc.; Farallon Capital Management; Hillhouse Capital, Cathay Financial Holding Co.; and the investment arm of Taiwanese food conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corp.

Sea’s choice to list in the US throws cold water on the Singapore government’s plans to boost tech listings in the SGX.  Just yesterday, Accreditation@IMDA programme — a government-backed programme that supports and invests in early-stage growth startups — announced it was working with the Singapore stock exchange (SGX) to help startups access capital markets.

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Image Credit: Sea

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