Indonesia’s biggest tech company, GoTo Group, shares surged on the first day of listing after its IPO raised $1.1 billion.
The bull-run of GoTo
As per Bloomberg news, the shares jumped to an intraday high of 23% and were up by 14% at 386 rupiahs, making the company’s market capitalization at $32 billion. The IPO price was 338 rupiah per share.
The listing of GoTo bucks the trend when most companies are deferring or scrapping the IPO due to rising interest and inflation due to the Russia- Ukraine war. It is the third-largest IPO in Indonesia after Mitratel and PT Bukalapak.com.
The GoTo debut resulted from the merger of e-commerce company Tokopedia and ride-hailing giant Gojek. The successful listing has set the tone for IPOs of other regional tech companies. Blibli.com and PT Traveloka Indonesia are internet companies that plan to go public.
President of Indonesia Joko Widodo underscored the importance of GoTo for the technology industry and local economy in a short video address that marked the debut ceremony.
Along with PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia, PT Telkom Indonesia, and PT Bank Central Asia, GoTo are some of the most valuable companies on the Indonesia stock exchange at current market valuations.
GoTo, the merged entity of two startup internet firms in Indonesia, was to get more firepower to compete in a cutthroat market. Both the companies, over the years, have amassed several investors, including Tencent Holdings, Google, and Sequoia Capital.
GoTo is a loss-making company, and though it is acquiring users at a rapid pace, they are yet to generate profit. However, they have a leadership position in the country with around 270 million people, where mobile-savvy customers are ordering food and rides via Gojek’s app and shopping on the Tokopedia app.
In 2009, Tokopedia was formed by William Ran Wijaya, son of a factory worker. In 2010, Gojek was set up by Nadiem Makarim, a former consultant with McKinsey & Co and Harvard Business School Graduate, to offer courier services deliveries in Jakarta.
The CEO of GoTo, Andre Soelistyo, was first working as an investor with Northstar Group, which became an institutional investor of Gojek. Soelistyo and co-founder Kevin Aluwi of Gojek became CEO in 2019 October when Makarim left the company to become the education and culture minister.
