Gojek, Tokopedia to create new Southeast Asian e-commerce giant
Indonesian ride-hailing and payments company Gojek and the country’s leading e-commerce business Tokopedia are close to creating a new e-commerce giant that would cover a broad variety of the digital economy for consumers not just domestically, but across Southeast Asia.
On April 9, the companies have asked their shareholders for approval to merge, and a merger could be finalized in a few weeks after getting sufficient shareholder support, various media outlets reported.
Such a deal would create an e-commerce behemoth valued at $18 billion offering online shopping, courier services, ride-hailing, food delivery, mobile payment and many other digital services.
Prominent tech investors in the back
Alibaba and SoftBank are among Tokopedia’s investors, while Gojek’s include Warburg Pincus and Tencent. Common investors in Gojek and Tokopedia include Singapore state fund Temasek, Sequoia Capital and Google. Other investors in Gojek are Facebook, which invested in the company’s payment arm, and global private equity company KKR, as well as Indonesian conglomerate Astra International.
A merged company would potentially aim at a dual listing in Jakarta and the US, the reports said.
A successful deal could transform the landscape not just in Indonesia’s e-commerce market, but across a number of Southeast Asian countries where the two companies are either already active or plan to expand to.
Grab and Sea as regional competitors
While the economies of scale of such a merged e-commerce giant would be huge, it would still have to compete with established peers such as Singapore’s Grab, the region’s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery company with its $35-billion valuation which is in talks to go public through a merger with a US special purpose acquisition company.
Another Singaporean e-commerce player, Sea, is also seeking to expand with food delivery and mobile financial services in Indonesia and the wider region.
A new e-commerce giant is in the making Indonesian ride-hailing and payments company Gojek and the country's leading e-commerce business Tokopedia are close to creating a new e-commerce giant that would cover a broad variety of the digital economy for consumers not just domestically, but across Southeast Asia. On April 9, the companies have asked their shareholders for approval to merge, and a merger could be finalized in a few weeks after getting sufficient shareholder support, various media outlets reported. Such a deal would create an e-commerce behemoth valued at $18 billion offering online shopping, courier services, ride-hailing, food delivery, mobile payment...
Indonesian ride-hailing and payments company Gojek and the country’s leading e-commerce business Tokopedia are close to creating a new e-commerce giant that would cover a broad variety of the digital economy for consumers not just domestically, but across Southeast Asia.
On April 9, the companies have asked their shareholders for approval to merge, and a merger could be finalized in a few weeks after getting sufficient shareholder support, various media outlets reported.
Such a deal would create an e-commerce behemoth valued at $18 billion offering online shopping, courier services, ride-hailing, food delivery, mobile payment and many other digital services.
Prominent tech investors in the back
Alibaba and SoftBank are among Tokopedia’s investors, while Gojek’s include Warburg Pincus and Tencent. Common investors in Gojek and Tokopedia include Singapore state fund Temasek, Sequoia Capital and Google. Other investors in Gojek are Facebook, which invested in the company’s payment arm, and global private equity company KKR, as well as Indonesian conglomerate Astra International.
A merged company would potentially aim at a dual listing in Jakarta and the US, the reports said.
A successful deal could transform the landscape not just in Indonesia’s e-commerce market, but across a number of Southeast Asian countries where the two companies are either already active or plan to expand to.
Grab and Sea as regional competitors
While the economies of scale of such a merged e-commerce giant would be huge, it would still have to compete with established peers such as Singapore’s Grab, the region’s biggest ride-hailing and food delivery company with its $35-billion valuation which is in talks to go public through a merger with a US special purpose acquisition company.
Another Singaporean e-commerce player, Sea, is also seeking to expand with food delivery and mobile financial services in Indonesia and the wider region.
