Chinese tech and gaming company Tencent has raised $3 billion after cutting its stake in Singaporean tech firm Sea Group, which holds e-commerce platform Shopee and Free Fire developer Garena.
Sea Group and Tencent maintained a close working relationship. In 2018, Sea signed a 5-year publishing deal with Tencent to release mobile and PC games in Southeast Asia under the Garena gaming group, signing agreements for six countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
As reported by Reuters, Tencent sold its 14.5 million shares in Sea at $208 per share, reducing its stake in the company from 21.3 percent to 18.7 percent. Sea’s share price fell 11.4 percent at the end of the divestiture news.
Tencent will be subject to a lockdown period that prevents the sale of additional Sea shares for the next six months following its sale.
Despite its massive divestiture, Tencent still holds a substantial majority stake in Sea, which it plans to retain. Sea announced that Tencent’s voting share in the company was reduced to 10 percent after the sale. Tencent stated that the newly received funds would finance other investments and social enterprises.
