GoTo sizzles on debut, sets tone for booming Indonesia tech sector

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JAKARTA — GoTo soared as much as 23% in its stock market debut on Monday after Indonesia’s largest tech company raised $1.1 billion in a widely anticipated IPO, fueling expectations of more tech offerings in a fast-growing sector.

The initial public offering (IPO) is the world’s fifth-largest this year, Refinitiv data shows, and came at a time when many companies delayed launches due to the Russia-Ukraine war and economic uncertainty.

The strong listing is a boost to some of the tech giants who are backing GoTo and whose other investments have been battered by the global market rout since late 2021, including longtime major investors SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 1 and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

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It also affirms the attractiveness of the $70 billion digital market in Southeast Asia’s largest economy where record venture funding is creating a wave of startups.

“GoTo’s IPO is a watershed moment for Indonesia,” said Joel Shen, head of Asia technology at global law firm Withers. “With millions of users, drivers, and merchants, there’s no company that’s more plugged in to Indonesia’s digital economy,” he said.

PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk was formed by last year’s merger of ride-hailing-to-payments company Gojek and e-commerce firm Tokopedia, with its businesses straddling millions of small and mid-sized firms across the archipelago.

GoTo’s shares rose to as much as 416 rupiah ($0.0290) in early trading. It had priced the IPO at 338 rupiah per share, the high end of an indicative range.

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The shares, which were sold only to investors in Indonesia, unlike most other offerings, later pared gains to trade at 400 rupiah. At that price, it is Indonesia’s third most-valuable listed firm at $33 billion, after Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia and just above Telkom Indonesia’s $31.6 billion market value.

“I hope that GoTo IPO will motivate our young generations to give new energy for Indonesia’s economic progress,” Indonesia President Joko Widodo said in a video message.

RECORD JAKARTA STOCK MARKET

Against the backdrop of sharp declines seen in U.S.-listed peers Grab Holdings Ltd and Sea Ltd which operate across Southeast Asia, GoTo’s valuation and size were lower than analysts had expected. All three unprofitable companies, though, are under pressure to turn around near-term.

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GoTo’s offering benefited from a booming local market, with Jakarta’s main index rising 1% to a record on Monday, taking gains to 11% so far this year and making it Asia’s best performing market.

The listing ceremony on Monday at the Jakarta bourse kicked off with a video of all of GoTo’s senior leadership in Gojek driver uniforms riding in-house Electrum brand electric motorcycles.

GoTo sold only about 4% of its shares in the IPO and the investors are subject to an eight-month lock-in, or two years for those with multiple class voting shares.

Other Indonesian startups eying IPOs in Jakarta include Binance-backed crypto firm TokoCrypto and online booking travel company Tiket.com, sources familiar with the manner told Reuters. Both firms were not immediately reachable for comments. ($1 = 14,368.0000 rupiah) (Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman in Jakarta and Fanny Potkin; Writing by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)