Life could get choppy for S-E Asian startup after IPO

Hong Kong

LISTED life can be rough. Sea, a South-east Asian startup formerly known as Garena, has filed for a US initial public offering (IPO) of US$1 billion. But larger deep-pocketed rivals are ramping up competition. An IPO at this stage could make the fight to come harder.

Backed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent, Sea is one of the region's biggest homegrown startups. It was valued at US$3.8 billion in a 2016 fundraising. Similar to Tencent, it has built a wider Internet platform, which spans retail, payments and messaging, around a profitable gaming business.