GoTo seeks to buck tech sector slump with $1.1 billion Indonesia IPO

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpBy Fanny Potkin, Anshuman Daga and Stefanno Sulaimanp

pSINGAPOREJAKARTA Reuters GoTo is banking for a steady market debut after raising 1.1 billion in a relatively cautious IPO, while a booming local share market is cementing expectations that Indonesias largest tech firm can buck a global downtrend in tech stocks.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pFormed by the May merger of ridehailingtopayments company Gojek and ecommerce giant Tokopedia, PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk will debut in Jakarta on Monday in the culmination of one of the worlds biggest initial public offerings IPO so far this year.p

pTaking advantage of new listing rules, the debut will mark a watershed for the 70 billion digital market of Southeast Asias largest economy, where record venture funding is creating a wave of startups.p

p“GoTo is the most differentiated technology company in Southeast Asia. Relative to its peers, diversification is going to be a very important thing that investors will need to get on top of and understand how to properly value the business,” said Shane Chesson, a partner at Openspace Ventures, one of Gojeks earliest investors.p

pIndonesias digital economy is likely to grow nearly five times to up to 330 billion by 2030 from 2021, showed a study by consultancy Bain & Co and GoTo backers Alphabet Inc and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd.p

pWhile U.S.listed peers Grab Holdings Ltd and Sea Ltd operate across Southeast Asia, GoTo focuses on Indonesia. With 2.5 million drivers, 14 million merchants and 55 million annual transacting users, GoTos businesses straddle millions of small and midsized firms across the archipelago.p

pAngus Mackintosh, founder at CrossASEAN Research, said in a report on Smartkarma that key to GoTos IPO was that it was small and offered only to local investors. “This should mean that there is stronger support.”p

pGoTo is selling 4 in shares with most taken up by funds. Backed by names such as SoftBank Group Corps Vision Fund 1, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, GoTo is also broadening its investor base by allocating shares to 600,000 drivers.p

pIt will also be first to issue multiple class voting shares and tap new rules allowing unprofitable firms to list directly on the bourses main board.p

pAnalysts said the size and valuation are lower than expected, and that GoTo likely aimed to avoid a repeat of the experience of ecommerce peer PT Bukalapak.com Tbk.p

pBukalapak raised 1.5 billion in July selling 25 of equity after initially targeting 300 million. Its stock debuted strongly but tumbled 25 within days and has halved from its IPO price.p

pGoTo priced its shares at 338 rupiah 0.0235, the high end of its indicative range.p

pIts investors are subject to an eightmonth lockin, or two years for those with multiple class voting shares. With Bukalapak, though there was an eightmonth lockin, some funds could sell up to 10 of holdings immediately.p

pGoTo will become Indonesias fourth mostvaluable firm at 28 billion, with analysts estimating an index weighting of up to 9.p

p“Once you‘re in the index, all the local funds buy quasi automatically,” said one GoTo investor. The IDX is at a record high and is Asia’s bestperformer this year at 9.p

pGoTo President Patrick Cao said weak markets prompted caution with pricing. Still, the firm expects listing to support fundraising and plans to list overseas within two years.p

p“It is a very challenging environment in the public market now, with market caps of DiDi Global Inc, Grab, DeliveryHero and many others falling below the target valuation of GoTo,” said Jianggan Li at advisory Momentum Works.p

p1 14,357.0000 rupiahp

p Reporting by Fanny Potkin, Anshuman Daga and Stefanno Sulaiman Editing by Christopher Cushingp

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