Tencent plans to sell a stake in Singapore's Sea for up to US$3b

[SINGAPORE] Tencent Holdings is seeking to sell a stake in Singaporean online gaming and e-commerce company Sea to raise as much as US$3.1 billion for new initiatives and philanthropic efforts to aid wealth redistribution.

The Chinese internet giant is offering 14.5 million shares in Sea, a stake of 2.6 per cent, at an indicative price range of US$208 to US$212 each, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News.

The offer price represents a discount of as much as 6.9 per cent to Sea's close of US$223.31 on Monday. Sea shares dropped 6.7 per cent in US premarket trading on Tuesday and have slumped 39 per cent from a high hit in October.

Less than a month ago, Tencent announced a plan to hand out more than US$16 billion of JD.com stock as a one-time dividend in an effort to divest most of its stake in China's No 2 online retailer.

The surprise move was seen as being in response to Beijing's push to curb anti-competitive behaviour and open up closed ecosystems. Tencent will reduce its holding in Sea to 18.7 per cent, it said in a statement.

The divestment will provide the Shenzhen-based company with "resources to fund other investments and social initiatives, while retaining a substantial majority of its stake in Sea and continuing to benefit from the company's future growth," it said.

In August, Tencent doubled the amount of money it's setting aside for social responsibility programmes to US$15.7 billion as Beijing forges ahead with its "common prosperity" campaign that includes income regulation and redistribution.

Chinese tech stocks have been battered by a year of regulatory action, spanning sectors including online education, gaming and food delivery, slowing growth at tech stalwarts like Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding.

Tencent has agreed not to sell further Sea shares for the next six months, the terms show.

BLOOMBERG