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Putra Muskita · · 7 min readThe wildcard investor in the rumored Grab-GoTo deal: Danantara
The on-off merger between Singapore-headquartered Grab and Indonesia-based GoTo just got more interesting. Danantara, Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF), is reportedly eyeing a minority stake in the potential US$7 billion combined entity.
It’s a match made in Indonesian tech heaven … if it actually happens.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
While Grab and GoTo insist that there’s no deal in the works, Danantara’s involvement – no matter how minor – could ease monopoly concerns for both super-app companies.
Symbolically, Danantara could play the white knight: It can protect local champions from foreign control at a time when TikTok Shop and Tokopedia struggle to sync, and many still mourn the loss of a true homegrown marketplace.
The Grab-GoTo deal could improve Danantara’s optics. The SWF was launched only in February, but it already has had a rough publicity spell. For instance, legendary investor Ray Dalio has reportedly quit Danantara’s board, though CEO Rosan Roeslani denied this. Meanwhile, global firms LG and BASF have dropped projects in Indonesia.
But this merger isn’t just any merger, and Danantara is no ordinary investor.
“There might be a ‘nationalistic’ justification for Danantara’s participation in the deal,” an industry source tells Tech in Asia. “But should an SWF be making investment decisions for nationalistic sentiment or optics?”
Pandu Sjahrir, Danantara’s chief investment officer, didn’t respond to Tech in Asia’s requests for comment. Grab and GoTo declined to comment.
Not a boring deal
In the Middle East, SWFs like Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala or Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are backing finance, tech, or life science companies to reduce their economies’ dependence on oil.
Those funds are also backing moonshots like OpenAI while also entering Southeast Asia. This includes 2021 investments in GoTo (US$1.3 billion from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) and Grab (US$4 billion from Mubadala).
That ambition is echoed in Indonesia, where Danantara – still only four months old – must also juggle strategic interests with financial returns.
Photo credit: Danantara
Greasing the wheels
Beggars can’t be choosers?
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A fledgling sovereign fund may get involved in a potential megadeal. We unpack what that says about power, optics, and policy in SEA’s tech scene.
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