Singapore-based consumer Internet group Sea Limited has acquired 82% of Vietnamese gourmet media platform Foody Corporation for around USD64 million, a source familiar with the matter told DEALSTREETASIA.

On September 26, this portal had reported that Sea had bought a controlling interest in an unnamed Vietnamese startup operating restaurant booking and food delivery services. Rumour had it that the startup in question was Foody. The transaction was completed in July 2017, Sea said in its NYSE listing prospectus on September 22. The latest public announcement regarding the relationship between Sea and Foody was a Series B round Foody raised from the Southeast Asia’s unicorn, then Garena, in 2015.

A foreign entity named Airview Investment Pte Ltd at the address of 1 Fusionopolis Place, Singapore, is currently holding 415,652 ordinary shares of Foody, or an 82% stake, according to a business registration form dated September 20 seen by DEALSTREETASIA. Emails sent to both Sea and Foody did not elicit any response by the time of publishing this article. “We intend to pursue strategic investment and acquisition opportunities in order to grow our user base, deepen our market penetration and further expand our offerings, including complementary services and products,” Sea highlighted in the listing registration form, adding that the acquisition in Vietnam helped expand its payment platform AirPay, which was launched in Vietnam in 2014. Sea is one of Southeast Asia’s first unicorns. Last year, it was valued at about USD3.75 billion after raising a USD170 million Series D round led by Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Foody, founded in 2012, has become one of the biggest success stories in the Vietnamese startup space. It secured seed and Series A investments from Japanese VC firm Cyberagent Ventures and Pix Vine Capital. Sea was the Series B investor in July 2015, while US-based Tiger Global Management invested in Foody’s Series C round just three weeks later.

Source: https://www.dealstreetasia.com