Bukalapak to raise USD 1.5 billion during Indonesia’s largest-ever IPO

The Indonesian e-commerce platform, Bukalapak is reportedly planning to secure about USD 1.5 billion in its largest IPO on 6th August 2021, presaging a plethora of domestic tech listings. The company will upsize its offering of 25.77 billion shares while going public, bringing its valuation to USD 6 billion.

An announcement on the final pricing is likely to be made this week.

For the unversed, Ant Group Co. and Microsoft Corp. backed Bukalapak is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, and was established in January 2010.

The online bazaar sells multifarious products, with Standard Chartered Plc, Naver Corp., and GIC Pte, as its backers.

The startup competes in the Southeast Asian nation with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. owned Lazada Group and Shopee, and e-commerce firm Tokopedia, backed by SoftBank Group Corp.

Bukalapak’s IPO would be a milestone for the country as the company would rank as the largest-ever IPO of Indonesia after eclipsing the USD 1.3 billion offering of PT Adaro Energy in 2008, driven by the bolstering demand for e-commerce due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If reports are to be believed, Indonesia’s largest tech startup GoTo which is valued at USD 18 billion, is anticipated to foray into local stock markets soon, while private firm Grab Holdings Inc. aims to go public with a blank-check firm in the second half of 2021.

According to the commissioner of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, Pandu Sjahrir, three other local firms with a total valuation of roughly USD 2 billion are planning to float shares in the stock market.

Meanwhile, as stock exchanges are trying to capture a slice of a global IPO boom across the globe, Bukalapak is benefitting from the relaxing requirements around listings. The company recorded 104.9 million registered users and posted a revenue of USD 95.8 million for the year 2020.

Source Credits –

 https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/bukalapak-is-said-poised-to-raise-1-5-billion-in-landmark-ipo