View source for Sea Ltd

{{short description|Singaporean technology company}}
{{For|other companies named Sea|Sea Group (disambiguation){{!}}Sea Group}}
{{Use Singaporean English|date=April 2021}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Sea Limited
| logo = Sea Group logo.svg
| logo_size = 150px
| traded_as = {{NYSE|SE}}
| ISIN = US81141R1005
| image =
| image_caption =
| trading_name = Sea Ltd
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| founded = {{start date and age|df=y|2009|}}
| founder = [[Forrest Li]]
| key_people = [[Forrest Li]] {{small|(Founder & CEO)}}
| revenue = US$13.1 billion<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/sea-ltd-q4-2023-earnings-386273 |title=Sea Posts First Annual Profit in 2023 as Shopee Clocks Strong Revenue Growth |first=Khamila |last=Mulia |publisher= |website=Deal Street Asia |date=2024-03-04}}</ref>
| revenue_year = 2023
| net_income = {{US$|162.7 million<ref name="cnbc">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/08/singapores-sea-group-turns-profitable-for-the-first-time.html |title=Singapore’s Sea Group turns profitable for the first time |first=Sheila |last=Chiang |publisher=|website=CNBC  |date=2023-03-08}}</ref>
}}
| net_income_year = 2022
| products = {{Unbulleted list
|[[E-commerce]]
|[[Entertainment]]
|[[Financial services|Digital financial services]]}}
| owners = (As per 30 June 2024)<ref name="ft" />{{unbulleted list|[[Tencent]] (18.4 %),<ref name="sec">{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001703399/000114036123017021/brhc10050860_20f.htm |title=FORM 20-F |first= |last= |publisher= |website=SEC |date=}}</ref>
|Baillie Gifford & Co. (6.45%),<ref name="ft">{{cite web |url=https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/profile?s=SE:NYQ |title=Equities |first= |last= |publisher= |website=Financial Times |date=}}</ref>
|[[Forrest Li]] (3.67%),
|Tiger Global Management LLC (2.84%),<ref name="ft" />
|BlackRock Fund Advisors (2.06%),<ref name="ft" />
|Sands Capital Management LLC (1.76%)<ref name="ft" />}}
| successor =
| location = 1 [[Fusionopolis]] Place, #17-10, Galaxis, [[Singapore]] 138522
| area_served = Worldwide
| parent =
| subsid = [[Garena]]<br/>SeaMoney
<br/>[[Shopee]]<br/>[[Lion City Sailors FC]]<br/>SeaBank Indonesia<br>SeaBank Philippines<br/>MariBank
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.sea.com}}
| footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web |title=Sea Group |url=https://www.sea.com/ |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=Sea Group |language=en}}</ref>
}}
'''Sea Limited''' (stylized as: '''sea''') is a tech conglomerate headquartered in [[Singapore]]. Established in 2009 by [[Forrest Li]], Sea was initially founded as [[Garena]], a game development and publishing company known for its [[Garena Free Fire|''Free Fire'']] title. The company rebranded itself under the present-day Sea brand in May 2017 after securing funding worth US$550 million, although the Garena brand was retained for its digital entertainment arm.<ref name=":3">{{cite web |date=May 8, 2017 |title=Tech company Garena raises US$550m, rebrands as Sea |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/garena-raises-us550-million-rebrands-as-sea |publisher=The Straits Times}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title='Stay hungry, stay foolish': How Forrest Li built the biggest internet company in Southeast Asia |url=https://kr-asia.com/stay-hungry-stay-foolish-how-forrest-li-built-the-biggest-internet-company-in-southeast-asia |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=KrASIA |language=en}}</ref> Sea has over 67,000 employees, as of 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sea: Number of Employees 2016-2022 {{!}} SE |url=https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/SE/sea/number-of-employees |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=www.macrotrends.net}}</ref>
Sea currently functions as a [[holding company]] for Garena, SeaMoney, [[Shopee]] and Maribank.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 6, 2019 |title=Sea is raising up to $1.5B for its Shopee e-commerce business in Southeast Asia |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/05/sea-is-raising-up-to-1-5b-for-its-shopee/ |publisher=TechCrunch}}</ref> Since 2020, Sea is also the owner of [[Singapore Premier League]] football club [[Lion City Sailors FC]], after Forrest Li acquired, privatised and renamed [[Home United]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Chia |first=Han Keong |date=14 February 2020 |title=Lion City Sailors are Singapore's first privatised football club |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/lion-city-sailors-are-singapores-first-privatised-football-club-002028076.html }}</ref>
== History ==
=== 2009 - 2015 ===
The company initially named Garena was established by Forrest Li in Singapore in 2009.<ref name=":3" /> In 2010, Riot Games awarded the publishing rights of ''[[League of Legends]]'' (LoL) to the company, for the game’s  first launch in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernardo |first=Anna |date=2022-11-09 |title=Riot Games to take back League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics publishing in SEA from Garena in 2023 |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/riot-games-to-self-publish-league-of-legends-teamfight-tactics-sea-2023-garena-020042196.html |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-SG}}</ref>
By 2014, Garena was valued at {{usd}}1 billion by The World Startup Report and was ranked as the largest internet company in Singapore by ''[[The Economist]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Singapore's Tech Company Garena Valued At USD1 Billion |url=http://www.businessinsider.sg/singapores-tech-company-garena-valued-usd1-billion/#.VNwhl_mUcoc |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808014216/http://www.businessinsider.sg/singapores-tech-company-garena-valued-usd1-billion/ |archive-date=8 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Start me up |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/07/daily-chart-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630085756/http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/07/daily-chart-6# |archive-date=2017-06-30 |access-date=2017-07-13 |newspaper=[[The Economist]]}}</ref> In March 2015, the [[Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan]] (OTPP), one of the largest pension funds in the world, invested in Garena, increasing the value of the company to over US$2.5 billion.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Grant |first1=Jeremy |date=March 2015 |title=Ontario Teachers Pension Plan bets on Asia with Garena stake |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3f6ba438-bfff-11e4-9708-00144feab7de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627003457/https://www.ft.com/content/3f6ba438-bfff-11e4-9708-00144feab7de# |archive-date=2018-06-27 |access-date=2018-11-27 |website=Financial Times}}</ref>
=== Transition ===
In May 2017, after raising US$550 million in a funding round, Garena underwent a corporate rebranding.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lee |first=Yoolim |date=8 May 2017 |title=Garena Rebrands as Sea After Raising $550 Million in New Funding |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-08/garena-rebrands-as-sea-after-raising-550-million-in-new-funding |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514202410/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-08/garena-rebrands-as-sea-after-raising-550-million-in-new-funding |archive-date=14 May 2017 |access-date=4 November 2019 |agency=Bloomberg}}</ref> The parent company adopted the name Sea Ltd. to better reflect its diverse range of businesses, which now includes digital entertainment, e-commerce, and digital financial services.<ref name="founder&rename">{{Cite news |last=Chia Yan Min |date=9 May 2017 |title=Tech firm Garena gets renamed as Sea |work=The Straits Times |publisher=Singapore Press Holdings |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/tech-firm-garena-gets-renamed-as-sea |access-date=23 July 2019 |archive-date=23 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723081249/https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/tech-firm-garena-gets-renamed-as-sea |url-status=live }}</ref> The company's digital entertainment segment retained the Garena name, maintaining its brand identity in the gaming industry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Garena rebrands to Sea and raises $550 million more to focus on Indonesian e-commerce |date=8 May 2017 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/07/sea-change/ |access-date=7 August 2020 |quote=Garena was founded in 2009 as an online gaming platform and its games business will retain that name. |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022161526/https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/07/sea-change/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== 2017 - present ===
Sea listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, where it was the first major U.S. IPO from a Southeast Asian tech firm.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Jon |date=2017-10-21 |title=Southeast Asia gaming and e-commerce firm Sea ends first day on NYSE up 8% |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/21/sea-closes-opening-day-on-nyse-up-8/ |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>
On 9 September 2021, Sea raised US$6 billion in an equity and convertible bond sale, making it Southeast Asia's largest fund raising.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murdoch |first=Scott |date=2021-09-10 |title=Singapore's Sea Ltd secures $6 billion in mega fund raising |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/sea-ltd-raises-about-6-billion-mega-fund-raising-2021-09-10/ |access-date=2022-03-07 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref> Sea said it planned to use the cash for strategic investments and potential acquisitions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-09 |title=Sea Group seeks to raise up to USD 7.2 billion in Southeast Asia's largest ever equity round |url=https://kr-asia.com/sea-group-seeks-to-raise-up-to-usd-7-2-billion-in-southeast-asias-largest-ever-equity-round |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=KrASIA |language=en}}</ref>
In January 2022, [[Tencent]], the Chinese gaming giant, offloaded a US$3 billion investment in Sea.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-02 |title=Amid regulatory crackdowns, Tencent takes a tactical approach to its investments |url=https://kr-asia.com/amid-regulatory-crackdowns-tencent-takes-a-tactical-approach-to-its-investments |access-date=2022-03-25 |website=KrASIA |language=en}}</ref> In the same year, Sea discontinued its investment division and ceased new equity investments.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yong |first=Yimie |date=2023-06-02 |title=Singapore's Sea Ltd winds down investment arm - report |url=https://technode.global/2023/06/02/singapores-sea-ltd-winds-down-investment-arm-report/ |website=TechNode Global |language=en-US}}</ref>
In March 2023, Sea opened its digital bank, Maribank, after securing a digital full bank license from [[Monetary Authority of Singapore]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ang |first1=Prisca |title=Sea opens digital bank MariBank to public on invite-only basis |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/sea-opens-digital-bank-maribank-to-public-on-invite-only-basis |access-date=10 November 2024 |publisher=Straits Times |date=March 14, 2023}}</ref> It also owned banking license in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chiang |first1=Sheila |title=Sea Group's digital bank launches in Singapore to a select group of individuals |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/15/sea-groups-maribank-launches-in-singapore-on-an-invite-only-basis.html |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=CNBC |date=15 March 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
In March 2024, Sea posted its first profitable year since its IPO with an annual net income of US$162.7 million for the 2023 financial year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chong |first=Claudia |date=2023-12-22 |title=Sea to post first profitable year since IPO: CEO |url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups-tech/startups/sea-post-first-profitable-year-ipo-ceo |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=The Business Times |language=en}}</ref>
==Subsidiaries==
=== Shopee ===
{{Main|Shopee}}
Shopee is a technology company focused mainly on e-commerce. Shopee was first launched in Singapore in 2015, and has grown to become the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-01 |title=Top Websites Ranking |url=https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/taiwan/e-commerce-and-shopping/ |website=similarweb}}</ref> The company also serves consumers and sellers throughout Southeast Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia), Taiwan, and Brazil.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-12 |title=As Shopee expands aggressively around the world, will it become the 'Amazon of emerging economies'? |url=https://kr-asia.com/as-shopee-expands-aggressively-around-the-world-will-it-become-the-amazon-of-emerging-economies |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=KrASIA |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=24 November 2015 |title=Garena's Shopee could be on its way to beating Carousell in Asia |url=https://www.techinasia.com/shopee-p2p-marketplace-southeast-asia |access-date=3 February 2022 |website=Tech in Asia |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== SeaMoney ===
SeaMoney is an internet services company specialized in digital payments and financial services. Its offerings include mobile wallet services, payment processing, credit offerings, and related digital financial products and services. These are available in seven markets across Southeast Asia and Taiwan under various brands, including ShopeePay, SPayLater, and other brands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SeaMoney {{!}} Bringing Digital Financial Services To Millions |url=https://www.seamoney.com/ |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=www.seamoney.com |language=en}}</ref>SeaMoney served over 52 million users as of the second quarter of 2022.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2021-08-18 |title=Sea Group posts 160% gain in Q2 profits as net losses widen |url=https://kr-asia.com/sea-group-posts-160-gain-in-q2-profits-as-net-losses-widen |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=KrASIA |language=en}}</ref>
=== Garena ===
{{Main|Garena}}
Garena operates as the digital entertainment division of Sea, managing Garena+, an online gaming and social platform established in 2010.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Balea |first=Jum |date=2016-03-31 |title=Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem |url=https://www.techinasia.com/garena-series-d-funding |access-date= |website=www.techinasia.com |language=en-US}}</ref> This platform facilitates the discovery, download, and play of online games.<ref name=":4" /> Garena distributes game titles in various countries across Southeast Asia and Taiwan, including MOBA games ''League of Legends'' and ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'', the [[first-person shooter]] game ''[[Point Blank (2008 video game)|Point Blank]]'', the mobile MOBA game ''[[Arena of Valor]]'' and the mobile racing game ''[[GKART|Speed Drifters]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Garena |url=https://www.garena.sg/ |access-date= |website=www.garena.sg}}</ref>
In 2017, Garena developed ''[[Free Fire (video game)|Free Fire]]'', an online action-adventure game that became the most downloaded game on the Google Play Store in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Obedkov |first=Evgeny |date=2021-08-17 |title=Mobile battle royale Free Fire surpasses 150 million peak daily active players |url=https://gameworldobserver.com/2021/08/17/garena-free-fire-surpasses-150-million-peak-daily-active-players |access-date=2022-10-21 |website=Game World Observer |language=en-US |archive-date=14 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014062027/https://gameworldobserver.com/2021/08/17/garena-free-fire-surpasses-150-million-peak-daily-active-players |url-status=live }}</ref>
Following a decline in profit in 2022, Sea reported that it had stabilized the performance of its digital entertainment business in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cher |first=Benjamin |date=2024-03-09 |title=Garena’s gaming revival could prove a false dawn for Sea |url=https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups-tech/startups/garena-s-gaming-revival-could-prove-false-dawn-sea |access-date= |website=The Business Times |language=en}}</ref><ref name="cnbc" /> The company indicated that Garena had maintained steady demand for its popular title, ''Free Fire'', which achieved a peak of over 100 million daily active users in February 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Poh |first=Olivia |date=2024-03-04 |title=Sea’s Shares Climb After Big Spending Helps It Fight TikTok |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-04/sea-earnings-fall-less-than-expected-on-solid-e-commerce-revenue |access-date= |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.sea.com}}
[[Category:2009 establishments in Singapore]]
[[Category:Holding companies established in 2009]]
[[Category:Technology companies established in 2009]]
[[Category:Holding companies of Singapore]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]