The US-listed Singaporean owner of e-commerce player Shopee saw its share price close at $282.49 last week, meaning its $148 billion market capitalisation surpassed the $122 billion of Japan’s Softbank Group, Nikkei Asia reports.

In addition to e-commerce, Sea is active in the online gaming and fintech spaces. Alongside backing its local e-commerce player Zozo, Softbank has a stake in Shopee’s Indonesian competitor Tokopedia.

The optimism around the group’s business stems from Shopee’s entrance into Chile and Colombia this month, after launching in Brazil and Mexico in 2019 and earlier this year respectively. Alongside operations in Taiwan, it has already made waves across Southeast Asia and last year became the populous region’s most valuable listed company in the wake of a pandemic-ignited e-commerce boom.