Singapore’s Sea Ltd. initially modeled itself on Chinese internet colossus Tencent Holdings Ltd. and is often called the Tencent of Southeast Asia. Now that Sea has filed for an initial public offering and given a peak at its financials, the resemblance is starting to break down.
The company, seeking to raise about $700 million as it goes public in New York, does offer games and digital entertainment like Tencent. In fact, the Chinese company licenses hit games like League of Legends to Sea, and owns about 40 percent of the smaller firm’s stock.