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Tokopedia is Reportedly in Talks to Go Public on the New York Stock Exchange through SPAC

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Indonesian based marketplace service, Tokopedia, as reported by Bloomberg, is currently exploring possible IPO on the New York Stock Exchange through Bridgetown’s Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) backed by well-known Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel (through Thiel Capital) and Hong Kong conglomerate Richard Li (through the Pacific Century Group). Bridgetown shares surged to 29% after today’s market close.

As we contacted one of Tokopedia’s representatives, there is no further statement regarding this matter.

Through the disclosure at the IPO on October 16, the blank check company Bridgetown aims to support Southeast Asian companies focusing on the technology, financial services, or media sectors to go public. Bridgetown secured $550 million (around Rp.7.8 trillion) in public funding from the IPO.

According to a Bloomberg report, Tokopedia’s possible IPO is still in its early stage and if it’s true, around next year, the company’s market capitalization is to reach the peak at $8-10 billion (110-150 trillion Rupiah).

Tokopedia is currently the second-largest [valuation] unicorn in Indonesia, after Gojek. Sea Ltd which operates Shopee, its closest competitor, had an IPO on the New York stock exchange in 2017 with the current market capitalization of over $96 billion or around Tokopedia’s ten times.

Pacific Century Group is currently involved as Tokopedia’s investor with Bridgetown’s CEO and Pacific Century Group’s SVP Daniel Wong serving on Tokopedia’s board of commissioners, according to Bridgetown’s SEC S-1 data filing. In Indonesia, Pacific Century Group’s business is known as FWD insurance company.

SPAC’s current reputation

The arrival of the blank check company, SPAC, paints a new color to the company’s IPO method in developed country exchanges, especially the United States. From our observation, approximately $78 billion of public funds have been disbursed through SPAC on US exchanges this year. In comparison, only $13 billion in funds went public using the same methods last year, increased by 6 times.

SPAC makes it easy for companies to go public, as IPO tends to be a long and complex process to ensure accurate financial data and assess the integrity of its executives. The downfall of WeWork’s IPO last year has proven the difficulty of startups that failed to comply with good governance principles to go public.

SPAC has no complex financial data to be audited, therefore, the process tends to be easier, within just weeks, not months for the IPO.

After going public, SPAC is to merge with a private company, therefore, the company can automatically be listed (direct listing) on ​​the stock exchange.

Pandemic conditions have not dampened the euphoria of listings this year. New York stock exchanges, including the Nasdaq technology stock exchange, have broken all year-long index listing records. Several technology companies’ IPOs throughout this year are also considered to have received positive responses from the market, for example Snowflake, DoorDash, and the latest Airbnb.

To date, Tokopedia has raised $2.8 billion funding from investors (around IDR 40 trillion) according to the data compiled by DailySocial and Crunchbase. The company has just introduced Google and Temasek into its ranks of investors this year.

SPAC’s existence as a new means for IPO provides a big chance for private investors who want to exit through the stock market. However, it’s still necessary to watch over this scheme to reduce the risk of investors’ failed to chip in, which will remind us of the dotcom bubble 20 years ago.

This year, Nikola becomes one of the SPAC graduates that steals the spotlight as the business practice is considered “deceiving the public“. This led to an investigation by the United States Department of Justice and the resignation of Nikola’s Founder, Trevor Milton.

In Indonesia, the SPAC scheme is not quite common. On several occasions, the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) keeps encouraging unicorn startups to go public in dual listings, on local and foreign exchanges, in order to provide opportunities for local investors to be a part of domestic startups.

J.P. Morgan through the Indonesia Equity Strategy 2021 report projects Tokopedia in the #10 position for the company with the largest capitalization in LQ45 if it is to go public today at IDX.

Tokopedia’s Co-Founder and CEO, William Tanuwijaya has given hints that the company is to go public in the next 1-2 years since last year.

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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian

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SPAC Bridgetown, yang didukung investor Peter Thiel dan konglomerat Hong Kong Richard Li, dikabarkan menjajaki membantu go public Tokopedia di bursa New York

Tokopedia Dikabarkan Jajaki Potensi “Go Public” di Bursa New York Melalui SPAC

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Layanan marketplace Tokopedia, melalui pemberitaan Bloomberg, dikabarkan menjajaki potensi go public di Bursa New York melalui Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Bridgetown yang didukung investor kenamaan Silicon Valley Peter Thiel (melalui Thiel Capital) dan konglomerat Hong Kong Richard Li (melalui Pacific Century Group). Saham Bridgetown naik 29% pasca penutupan bursa hari ini.

Juru bicara Tokopedia yang kami kontak belum memberikan pernyataannya terkait hal ini.

Melalui keterbukaannya saat IPO tanggal 16 Oktober lalu, perusahaan cek kosong (blank check company) Bridgetown menargetkan membantu perusahaan Asia Tenggara yang beroperasi di sektor teknologi, layanan finansial, atau media untuk go public. Bridgetown mendapatkan dana publik $550 juta (sekitar Rp7,8 triliun) dari IPO itu.

Menurut pemberitaan Bloomberg, penjajakan go public Tokopedia ini masih di tahap awal dan jika benar terjadi, kemungkinan tahun depan, akan memberikan kapitalisasi pasar perusahaan di angka $8-10 miliar (110-150 triliun Rupiah).

Tokopedia saat ini menjadi startup unicorn Indonesia dengan valuasi terbesar kedua setelah Gojek. Pesaing terdekatnya, Sea Ltd yang mengoperasikan Shopee, telah IPO di bursa New York tahun 2017 dan saat ini memiliki kapitalisasi pasar lebih dari $96 miliar atau sekitar 10x lipat Tokopedia.

Pacific Century Group saat ini adalah investor Tokopedia dengan CEO Bridgetown dan SVP Pacific Century Group Daniel Wong menjadi anggota dewan komisaris Tokopedia, menurut data filing SEC S-1 Bridgetown. Di Indonesia bisnis Pacific Century Group adalah perusahaan asuransi FWD. 

Popularitas SPAC di tahun 2020

Kehadiran perusahaan cek kosong SPAC membawa nuansa baru cara IPO perusahaan di bursa-bursa negara maju, khususnya Amerika Serikat. Menurut data yang kami peroleh, ada sekitar $78 miliar dana publik yang digelontorkan melalui SPAC sepanjang tahun ini di bursa Amerika Serikat. Sebagai pembanding, hanya $13 miliar dana yang dimasukkan publik dengan metode yang sama tahun lalu atau naik sekitar 6x lipat.

SPAC memberikan kemudahan perusahaan untuk go public, karena proses IPO cenderung panjang dan berliku untuk memastikan data finansial yang akurat dan menilai integritas para eksekutifnya. Kegagalan IPO WeWork tahun lalu adalah salah satu bukti sulitnya startup yang tidak taat asas good governance untuk go public.

SPAC tidak memiliki data finansial kompleks yang perlu diaudit sehingga prosesnya cenderung lebih mudah, dalam hitungan minggu, tidak lagi berbulan-bulan melalui proses IPO.

Setelah go public, SPAC akan dimerger dengan perusahaan privat sehingga perusahaan tersebut otomatis langsung terdaftar (direct listing) di bursa.

Kondisi pandemi tidak menyurutkan euforia listing sepanjang tahun ini. Bursa saham New York, termasuk bursa saham teknologi Nasdaq, telah memecahkan rekor pencatatan indeks sepanjang tahun. Beberapa IPO perusahaan teknologi pun sepanjang tahun ini pun dianggap mendapatkan respon positif dari pasar, misalnya Snowflake, DoorDash, dan yang terbaru Airbnb.

Tokopedia sejauh ini telah mengumpulkan pendanaan dari para investor sebesar $2,8 miliar (sekitar Rp40 triliun) menurut kompilasi DailySocial dan Crunchbase. Perusahaan baru saja memasukkan Google dan Temasek tahun ini ke dalam jajaran investornya.

Kehadiran SPAC sebagai sarana go public memberikan angin besar bagi para investor privat yang ingin exit di bursa saham. Meskipun demikian, skema ini patut terus dicermati untuk mengurangi risiko kegagalan investor berinvestasi, yang mengingatkan pada peristiwa dotcom bubble 20 tahun lalu.

Tahun ini Nikola menjadi salah satu “lulusan” SPAC yang menjadi sorotan karena praktik bisnisnya yang dianggap “membohongi publik”. Hal ini mendorong adanya investigasi Departemen Kehakiman Amerika Serikat dan mundurnya Pendiri Nikola Trevor Milton.

Di Indonesia sendiri skema SPAC belum umum. Pihak Bursa Efek Indonesia (IDX) di beberapa kesempatan terus mendorong startup unicorn untuk go public secara dual listing, di bursa lokal dan asing, agar juga memberikan kesempatan investor lokal menjadi pemilik saham startup anak negeri.

J.P. Morgan di laporan Indonesia Equity Strategy 2021 mengestimasikan Tokopedia berada di posisi #10 untuk perusahaan dengan kapitalisasi terbesar di LQ45 seandainya go public hari ini di IDX.

Co-Founder dan CEO Tokopedia William Tanuwijaya sendiri sejak tahun lalu mengisyaratkan perusahaannya bakal melantai dalam 1-2 tahun ke depan.

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