Shopee parent Sea acquires Indonesia's Bank BKE

The tech startup has raised $3b in stock offering for its business expansion plans.

Singapore’s Sea Limited, the tech startup that operates e-commerce platform Shopee, has acquired Indonesia’s PT Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi, known as Bank BKE, reports Bloomberg.

The tech startup—touted as Southeast Asia’s most valuable company—has reportedly gained full control of the Jakarta-based lender after buying stakes from the lender’s existing shareholders PT Danadipa Artha Indonesia and PT Koin Investama Nusantara through its subsidiary Tubro Cash Hong Kong.

The move is the latest on Sea’s expansion into the financial market space. An entity owned by Sea was recently granted a digital full bank license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in early December.

Sea also raised almost $3b in a stock offering last month, saying it intends to spend the proceeds on business expansion.

Representatives of Sea and Bank BKE declined to comment.

Here’s more from Bloomberg.