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Monee nears standalone stage

Sea Ltd, the Singapore-listed technology group, may pursue an initial public offering of Monee, its financial services arm, as the unit expands, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (Sea planuje IPO jednostki finansowej Monee — Channel NewsAsia | UA.NEWS – ua.news) (Dyrektor generalny Sea: ramię finansowe Monee może wejść na giełdę Przez Investing.com – pl.investing.com). The report cited an internal memo written by Chief Executive Forrest Li.

What the memo says

Li wrote that Monee, the fastest-growing segment of Sea in recent quarters, is approaching a point where it could operate on its own. He made the remarks in a memo marking the ninth anniversary of Sea's listing on the New York Stock Exchange, where the company trades under the ticker SE.

Li also said that Sea's three main businesses are all well developed, profitable and still growing. He added that the listing has given the group access to capital and wider investor attention.

Scope of the business

Monee operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brazil. It offers mobile wallets, payment processing and other financial services. Sea also runs the Shopee e-commerce platform and the Garena gaming unit.

Timing and next steps

Channel NewsAsia, citing the same internal note seen by Reuters, reported that a listing could give the payments and financial services business more resources and room to expand. Sea did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the plans. No timetable for an offering has been announced.