Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) shares fell after e-commerce and gaming firm Sea Ltd announced on Monday that it is exiting India’s retail market just months after launching operations there.
Reuters first reported the news.
SE stock was down 4.9% to $110.35 at the time of writing. The stock had also closed at a 5.8% loss on Friday, reaching $116.12. Sea’s stock had already dropped 11% in January after Chinese tech giant Tencent announced it would sell 14.5 million shares in the company.
Furthermore, following the ban, the market value of Sea fell by $16 billion in a single day, prompting some investors to reduce their holdings in the Singapore-based company.
The withdrawal, which takes effect on March 29, comes just weeks after its e-commerce arm Shopee announced its exit from France and after India banned Sea’s popular gaming app “Free Fire.”
Shopee stated in a statement that its decision was made “in view of global market uncertainties” and that the company would make “the process as smooth as possible.”
The Shopee India Team sent an email to its users, which is as follows – taken from Livemint.
Dear Shopee Users,
We regret to inform you that the Shopee India platform will be ceasing operations with effect from March 29, 12.00 AM (IST).
Rest assured that all orders placed before this date will continue to be fulfilled as usual, and after-sale services and support will continue to be available to all users who have made purchases on our platform. If you have any questions, please contact at help@support.shopee.in.
We thank you for all of your support. It has been a pleasure serving you.
Sincerely, Shopee India Team
Shopee’s India operations began in October 2021 as part of an aggressive international expansion that saw the company expand into Europe. At the time, Sea had a market capitalization of up to $200 billion. Since then, it has dropped to $64.76 billion in March 2022.
