Indonesian tech giant GoTo skyrockets on market debut

Indonesian tech giant GoTo skyrockets on market debut

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s biggest tech firm soared on its market debut Monday after a billion-dollar IPO that was the world’s fifth-biggest this year, defying recent heavy weather for Asian tech stocks. GoTo, the largest digital ecosystem in the archipelago nation of 270 million people, was formed by the merger of ride-hailing company Gojek and e-commerce platform Tokopedia in May 2021.

Clad in the signature black-and-green jacket of a Gojek driver, GoTo CEO Andre Soelistyo pressed the 9 am opening bell at the Jakarta stock exchange. “Despite global market volatility, investor interest has been strong, reflecting the rapidly growing demand in Southeast Asia for our on-demand, e-commerce and financial technology services, as well as confidence in GoTo’s position as the largest digital ecosystem in Indonesia,” he said in a press release.

GoTo shares jumped as much as 23 percent in early trade before closing 13.02 percent higher at 382 rupiah. Overall, Jakarta stocks ended down 0.10 percent. The company raised about $1.1 billion in its IPO that concluded last week, priced at 338 rupiah a share, representing a market value of about $28 billion, it announced. It has sold shares for $954.7 million (13.7 trillion rupiah) plus $146.3 million from treasury shares for the purpose of over-allotment.