Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to invest US$400 million in Indonesia’s GoTo Group

GoTo Group formed by the merger of Tokopedia and Gojek in May
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund to lead a pre-IPO fundraising round for the tech unicorn

Banking & finance

Chad Bray

Published: 8:30pm, 20 Oct 2021

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GoTo Group, the digital leviathan created by the merger of Gojek and Tokopedia in May, said on Wednesday that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will invest US$400 million and lead a pre-initial public offering fundraising round by Indonesia’s biggest tech unicorn.

The transaction is the first principal investment by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s private equities department into a Southeast Asian tech company and its biggest investment in Indonesia to date.

GoTo Group already counts Alibaba Group Holding, Google and Softbank Group’s Vision Fund among its investors. Alibaba is the owner of the Post.

“Backing of this scale underlines our belief that Indonesia and Southeast Asia are emerging as the next great destinations for tech investment,” said Andre Soelistyo, the GoTo CEO.

A worker handles a Tokopedia order at a fulfilment centre in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Bloomberg

Jakarta-based GoTo spans e-commerce, ride-hailing and financial services in the world’s fourth most populous country and was created by the merger of two of Indonesia’s biggest tech companies. The deal, announced in May, was the largest ever in Indonesia.

The combined company had a registered driver fleet of more than two million and a gross transaction value (GTV) of over US$22 billion in 2020. GTV is a measure of everything sold through a marketplace.

GoTo is seeking to raise as much as US$2 billion in pre-IPO fundraising this year and is targeting an IPO in Indonesia next year. The company is seeking a US$30 billion valuation.

“This investment in GoTo is aligned with a number of our key investment themes, including the growth of the digital economy in the fast-growing markets of Southeast Asia,” said Hamad Shahwan Al Dhaheri, executive director of ADIA’s private equities department. “We see strong potential in the region, particularly in Indonesia where the vibrant economic backdrop is encouraging ADIA to continue to deepen its presence.”

A Gojek driver checks his mobile phone near Tokopedia’s building in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo: Bloomberg

In earlier fundraising rounds, Gojek and Tokopedia amassed a combined US$8.1 billion from investors, according to Crunchbase.

In addition to a local listing, GoTo has explored at a potential future listing in the United States, possibly through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

GoTo is a rival to Singapore-headquartered Grab Holdings, Southeast Asia’s most valuable tech unicorn.

Grab agreed to go public in the US via a merger with a blank-cheque company in a deal that valued it at US$39.6 billion. Grab said in June that it would delay its SPAC merger until the fourth quarter.

This month, Grab agreed to buy out stakes held by Tokopedia and Lippo Group in Ovo, giving it a 90 per cent ownership interest in the Indonesian payments partnership.

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