Indonesia’s Gojek Mulls $18 Billion Merger With Tokopedia

Indonesia’s ride-hailing and payments platform Gojek is in talks with eCommerce innovator Tokopedia for an $18 billion merger, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (Jan. 5), citing sources.

Gojek and SoftBank-backed Tokopedia are in advanced discussions ahead of a projected public offering of the combined firm, the sources told Bloomberg.

A term sheet was signed by both companies “to conduct due diligence of each other’s business,” the sources said, adding that both firms are eager to seal the deal.

The tie-up between Gojek — valued at $10.5 billion valuation — and Tokopedia — valued at $7.5 billion — would create a combined company worth $18 billion, the sources said. The two have been discussing a merger since 2018 and stepped up negotiations after Gojek’s potential merger with Grab stalled.

“This is potentially a blockbuster deal,” Usman Akhtar, a partner at Bain & Co. in Singapore, told Bloomberg. “The deal would have a lot of impact outside of these two companies and have ripple effects that aren’t even all known right now.”

The deal between Gojek and SoftBank-backed Grab — Indonesia’s most valuable startups with a combined valuation of $25 billion — stalled over a power struggle. Grab CEO Anthony Tan dodged pressure by SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son to dial back control of the combined firm, the sources said.

Merger ratios giving both Gojek and Tokopedia “substantial equity ownership” are now being discussed, the sources said, as there was not enough agreement between Gojek and Grab to sign a term sheet.

Son is now backing a tie-up between Gojek and Tokopedia, the sources told Bloomberg. The combined company would dominate Indonesia.

Last month, blank-check acquisition company Bridgetown Holdings was mulling a deal with Tokopedia. Bridgetown raised about $595 million in an October public offering.