Andre Soelistyo Reportedly Will Lead GoTo

Decacorn Gojek and unicorn Tokopedia reportedly merged and formed a company called GoTo. Gojek’s current co-CEO, Andre Soelistyo, is now said to be leading the company.

An anonymous source from Bloomberg said that Gojek will own 58 percent of GoTo’s shares and Tokopedia will hold the rest.

This source also revealed that Tokopedia President Patrick Cao would maintain the position of President at GoTo. By choosing Andre Soelistyo, the merged company is targeting a valuation value of USD 40 billion.

Andre Soelistyo himself became Co-CEO after the company was abandoned by its CEO and founder Nadiem Makariem, who at that time resigned to serve as Minister of Education and Culture.

Under the leadership of Andre Soelistyo and co-CEO Kevin Aluwi, Gojek is also focused on diversifying its business into customer service.

In addition, Gojek also managed to raise more than USD 5 billion from investors such as Google, Tencent Holdings, Astra International, KKR & Co, and Warburg Pincus.

GoTo Will Have a Business Unit

Bloomberg wrote, GoTo will have three business units, ranging from ride-hailing service providers or online transportation Gojek, e-commerce Tokopedia, and payment and financial services called Dompet Karya Anak Bangsa (DKAB).

Meanwhile, Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya will continue to lead the e-commerce he founded in 2009. Meanwhile, Gojek Co-CEO Kevin Aluwi will lead Gojek.

However, Gojek and Tokopedia representatives were reluctant to comment on this news. It is reported that Tokopedia and Gojek are in the final stages of a merger. This merger is predicted to make its business entity the largest internet company in Indonesia.

Regarding the joining of Gojek and Tokopedia, the board and management team are said to have approved the terms of the merger, which are reportedly going to be announced in the near future.

The Agreement is Rumored to be Completed this Month

Earlier, The Information source said the agreement between the two companies was targeted to be completed this month.

“GoTo’s top management will be filled with senior leaders from the two companies, including Gojek Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi, as well as Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya and President Patrick Cao,” was quoted as saying by Kr Asia, last week (14/4).

A source from Bloomberg also stated that both Gojek and Tokopedia management leaders had agreed to the merger. The hot ball is now in the hands of the shareholders.

“The management and boards of the two startups have officially agreed to continue the merger,” said a source who did not wish to be named, quoted from Bloomberg, some time ago. “They just need to find a shareholder agreement through what is called the approval package.”

The process is predicted to run without significant obstacles, because Gojek and Tokopedia have the same investors like Google, Temasek Holdings Pte, and Sequoia Capital India.

Meanwhile, Tokopedia is also supported by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which also has an e-commerce unit in Southeast Asia, namely Lazada.

Reportedly Has Announced Plans to Its Employees

The two digital companies in the country have reportedly announced the plan to employees at a town hall meeting.

However, Gojek and Tokopedia have not provided detailed information on the agreement. The company said that if there’s a corporate action, they would provide further information in the near future.

“We understand that there is a lot of discussion circulating on this issue, but we are unable to comment at this time,” said Gojek Chief Corporate Affairs Nila Marita, last Friday (9/4). Likewise with Tokopedia.

The company resulting from the merger of the two unicorn startups is estimated to have a valuation value of up to 40 billion US dollars or around IDR 581 trillion (exchange rate of IDR 14,500).