KUCHING: Shopee’s parent company, Sea Ltd (Sea), announced the pricing of its initial public offering and trading of its American depositary shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
As the first internet business of scale from Greater Southeast Asia to become listed on the New York Stock Exchange, this is a significant milestone for Sea and its businesses, including Shopee.
According to Shopee chief executive officer Chris Feng, “The listing day is a big day for the Sea group, including Shopee as well as Garena and AirPay. As we embark on this new journey, we are excited about the opportunities it will present for our business, employees and most importantly, our customers.
“Our home market is an exciting region, with one of the largest millennial populations in the world, and GDP growing over twice as fast as in the US.
“Internet and smartphone penetration is still low comparing to the US and China, and we are confident in its continued growth and the tremendous potential this presents across our seven markets, namely Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
Since Shopee’s inception in 2015, Fend said the group has worked to empower local entrepreneurs and serve local consumers.
“For example, Shopee Malaysia’s nationwide free shipping service provides cost-savings to consumers, while the recently launched Shopee Mall, a premium online shopping portal, caters to the increasingly sophisticated demands of Malaysian shoppers.
“Also, our seller-driven initiatives, such as Shopee University, serve to help local entrepreneurs and businesses succeed in an increasingly competitive online shopping environment.
“ The combination of its strong home-court advantage, a deep understanding of markets, and its on-the-ground local presence has enabled Shopee to identify and cater to needs – and this is reflected in the success we have had attracting 1.6 million active seller partners, plus another 1,700 brands and larger retailers to our platform.
“Looking ahead, while we are proud of what we have accomplished so far, we know we have a lot of work to do to continue to realise Shopee’s potential. We remain as committed as ever to fulfilling Sea’s mission to improve the lives of the region’s consumers and small businesses with technology.”