Sea Ltd. is injecting $1 billion into a new unit that will manage bets on fledgling technology companies, marking an entry by Southeast Asia’s largest company into the crowded field of investment. It hired former Hillhouse Capital partner David Ma to lead the newly formed Sea Capital, and acquired full ownership of Ma’s Hong Kong-based hedge fund firm Composite Capital Management (HK) Ltd.
Sea is following in the footsteps of internet behemoths SoftBank Group Corp. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. by creating a corporate investment arm as the company aims to deepen its offerings in gaming, e-commerce and digital financial services as well as look for new areas of growth. Tech giants are increasingly active in backing companies for better returns and generating synergy between portfolios and their main operations.
“Sea Capital will focus on identifying, partnering with, and investing in technology companies that share our vision of bettering the lives of consumers and small businesses through technology,” Sea Chief Executive Officer Forrest Li said during a conference call late yesterday, adding the new unit will help support Sea’s long-term growth strategies. Sea itself was backed by Tencent.
Source: BNN Bloomberg
By Bei Hu and Yoolim Lee
