Indonesian startup giants gojek and Tokopedia are in advanced merger talks, ahead of a planned dual public listing of the combined entity in the US and Indonesia, according to a Bloomberg report.
gojek is concurrently in merger talks with Grab, but the discussions have hit a roadblock amidst reports that Grab CEO Anthony Tan is unwilling to give up some control in the combined entity and disagreements remain over plans to manage the Indonesian market.
Softbank’s Masayoshi Son is reportedly unhappy with the Tan’s reluctance to cede control and is now supporting a merger between gojek and SoftBank-backed Tokopedia.
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The report added the two Indonesian startups have signed a detailed term-sheet and see potential synergies between them. Both are keen to expedite the merger process and close the deal.
With a combined valuation of more than US$18 billion, the merged entity could mark the creation of an unprecedented “super app”, with services ranging from ride-hailing and payments to online shopping and logistics.
A deal between gojek and Tokopedia is likely to face less regulatory pressure than the Grab-gojek deal as government officials have already expressed reservations over the latter.
The companies are weighing their options for a public offering, with two main possible routes — a traditional dual-listing in Indonesia and the US or a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).
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This development comes in the wake of a report last month that Tokopedia had hired Morgan Stanley and Citi as advisers to accelerate its public listing plans. This came off the back of a report that Peter Thiel-backed SPAC, Bridgetown Holdings, was in discussions for a potential merger with the Jakarta-based firm.
In an official statement dated 17 December, a Tokopedia spokesperson wrote:
“Market adoption is accelerating business growth since the pandemic. We are considering to accelerate our plan to go public and we have appointed Morgan Stanley and Citi to be our advisors. We have not decided yet which market and method, and still considering options.”
“SPAC is a potential option that we could consider but that we have not committed to anything at the moment.”
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Image Credit: gojek
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