- GeneralM&A
- January 5, 2021
- 6 minutes read
Tokopedia, Gojek Near Merger?
After earlier reports of the Indonesian ride-hailing and e-commerce giant Gojek looking to merge with one of its main rivals…
After earlier reports of the Indonesian ride-hailing and e-commerce giant Gojek looking to merge with one of its main rivals named Grab, Gojek is now said to be eyeing a merger with another Indonesian tech company, this time the e-commerce giant Tokopedia.
Gojek and Tokopedia have drawn up terms for a merger and signed a detailed term sheet to conduct due diligence of each other’s businesses and operations, a report by Bloomberg states. If finalized, the merger would combine the two most valuable private tech companies in Indonesia in a deal worth over $18 billion, Bloomberg reports.
Gojek and Tokopedia represent the first and second most valuable technology startups in Indonesia. Both companies share common investors including Google, Sequoia Capital India, and Temasek.
It’s said that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is the driving force behind the merger talks between Gojek and Tokopedia and previously tried to work a merger between Gojek and its rival Grab but faced opposition from Grab’s founder and CEO Anthony Tan.
Notably, both Gojek and Tokopedia are considered to be major IPO candidates from the Southeast Asian tech industry. It seems that both companies are looking to merge then list on the public markets in what would mark one of the biggest exits from the Southeast Asian tech industry.
If a combined Gojek-Tokopedia lists on a US stock exchange, it’ll provide global investors seeking exposure to the Southeast Asian internet market an alternative to Sea Ltd, which is the only major internet company from the region listed in the US and saw its shares jump almost 400% last year.
At face value, a merger between Gojek and Tokopedia is likely to face less regulatory opposition than that of Gojek and Grab which are two rival services with overlapping businesses in many areas. As such, antitrust concerns would likely have mounted in the case of a Gojek-Grab merger.
Before the just-reported merger plans, Tokopedia was earlier reported to be considering a public listing through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Photo: Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya, credit: World Economic Forum, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
