Foreign media: Indonesian e-commerce Tokopedia and Gojek will complete $18 billion merger

It is understood that the two companies will form a new company called GoTo after the merger , and the transaction is expected to be completed this month. People familiar with the matter said that GoTo will be a new giant integrating ride-hailing services, food delivery and e-commerce.

GoTo’s top management will be made up of senior leaders from both companies, including Gojek’s co-CEOs Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi, and Tokopedia’s CEO William Tanuwijaya and president Patrick Cao.

GoTo will offer services across rides , e-commerce , food delivery , payments and logistics, which are the core businesses of both platforms. Reports say that after the merger is completed, Gojek will hold a 60% stake in GoTo , while Tokopedia will control the rest.

In fact , rumors about a merger between Gojek and Tokopedia have been circulating since the beginning of 2021 , and previously there were reports that merger talks between Gojek and Grab had broken down .

At the time , some experts said that the collaboration between Grab and Gojek could lead to boycotts due to monopolistic behavior, but Gojek and Tokopedia’s services were complementary and would not raise antitrust concerns.

For example, Tokopedia will gain access to Gojek’s logistics resources for more efficient delivery services, while Tokopedia’s merchants may have the opportunity to seek financing from Gojek-backed digital bank Bank Jago.

The merger will strengthen both companies and put them in a better position to compete with rivals such as Grab and Sea's e-commerce unit Shopee.

Prior to this, many foreign media mentioned that Tokopedia's packages were delivered by Gojek's fleet, and Tokopedia paid tribute to Gojek in its latest Ramadan commercial. The news that Gojek and Tokopedia are about to merge has also attracted a lot of attention.

Data shows that Gojek and Tokopedia , two of Indonesia's most successful technology startups, are valued at US$10.5 billion and US$7.5 billion, respectively.

Gojek has about 2 million drivers and 900,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, while Tokopedia claims to have 9.9 million merchants on its market . In Southeast Asia, e-commerce platforms have often merged, listed, and completed financing.

Previously, Grab announced a SPAC merger and listing, and Traveloka and Bukalapak also have plans to list in the United States. All signs indicate that Southeast Asia's e-commerce market will become even larger.

Cross-border e-commerce market

Southeast Asia