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Google and Temasek Holdings Pte have agreed to invest about US $ 350,000 (RM1.45bil) in PT Tokopedia, people familiar with the matter said, a major cash injection that will fund the post-Covid-19 expansion of Indonesia’s online shopping center. .
The Alphabet Inc unit and Singapore’s state investment firm could sign an agreement for the financing soon, said the people, who asked not to be identified to discuss the deal before it is formally concluded. The funding falls short of the initial target of between US $ 500 thousand (RM2.08 billion) and US $ 1 billion (RM4.16 billion) that Bloomberg News reported in July, although Tokopedia may still be looking for more investors.
Tokopedia, the online marketplace backed by SoftBank Group Corp, was said to have held talks with American internet giants including Facebook Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc.The endorsement of Google and Temasek is a vote of confidence for one of the largest e-commerce operators, who experienced an increase in online shopping during the pandemic.
America’s largest internet corporations have increasingly looked to Asia as growth in the United States and Europe slows, seeking to take advantage of the region’s growing population of smartphone users. Facebook is buying a stake in India’s Jio Platforms, while its WhatsApp unit has struck a deal to invest in Gojek, which has a popular digital payments service called GoPay. Representatives for Google, Tokopedia and Temasek declined to comment.
Tokopedia Co-Founder and CEO William Tanuwijaya built Indonesia’s most valuable startup after Gojek by gaining early endorsement from SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd co-founder Jack Ma.
E-commerce platforms such as Tokopedia, Alibaba’s Lazada Group SA and Shopee, a unit of Singapore-based Sea Ltd, moved quickly to serve the millions of people who were forced to make their first purchases online during the widespread blockades. Indonesia has become a key battleground between regional rivals: the country’s e-commerce market is projected to expand from US $ 21 billion (RM87.48 billion) in 2019 to US $ 82 billion (RM341 .62 billion) by 2025, according to a recent study by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co. – Bloomberg
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