Garena picks Goldman for US$1 billion IPO

SINGAPORE (Jan 11): Garena, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup, picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to lead a planned initial public offering that could fetch about US$1 billion ($1.44 billion), according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Singapore-based online gaming portal and e-commerce provider plans to select additional banks as soon as this month, the people said. Garena is considering listing in the US, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

If completed, the deal would be a boon for backers such as Tencent Holdings and mark the largest technology IPO out of Southeast Asia. It may open the door for offerings from other local startups, including ride-hailing leader Grab and e-commerce operator Tokopedia.

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