Moxy and Bilna join forces in high-profile regional ecommerce merger

Photo credit: Tambako The Jaguar

(Update 06/01/2016: The third paragraph was amended to explain the role of Bilna co-founder Eka Himawan after the merger.)

It’s an unprecedented merger event in Southeast Asia’s ecommerce history: Moxy, the women-focused ecommerce site with roots in Thailand today announced its fusion with Indonesian mom and baby products site Bilna.

The resulting venture will go by the name of MoxyBilna. The strategic move will likely benefit both companies as they make a play to own the women-focused online shopping experience in Southeast Asia.

The MoxyBilna Group will be led by Jérémy Fichet as CEO. Prior to the merger, he was the CEO of Moxy Group. Ferry Tenka, co-founder and former CEO of Bilna, will take on the role as MoxyBilna Group’s executive chairman and in addition heads up the company’s Indonesia operations. Eka Himawan, Bilna co-founder along with Ferry,  is now executive vice chairman and MoxyBilna Group CFO.

Neither team is taking a clear lead over the other in this merger, according to Jérémy. “As we strongly believe in synergies between both companies, we kept a fair balance in decision making power,” he explains.

What each brings to the table

It’s obvious that there’s good chemistry between the two companies because they share a vision, namely to stand out in an increasingly crowded ecommerce market by addressing female shoppers with an appealing brand and product range tailored to their lifestyle.

Beyond that, the companies also complement each other well, and may actually depend on each other to succeed.

The MoxyBlina team celebrates its merger. Group CEO Jérémy Fichet back row, center.

Moxy originated in Thailand and is fairly new to Indonesia, having entered in June 2015. Bilna has operated in Indonesia since 2012, where it’s considered the leading player in mom and baby products. While this is the same strength Moxy has in Thailand, it would have been hard to get around Bilna in Indonesia given the latter’s deeper experience in the local market.

“The fact that they were number one in mothers and babies in Indonesia was hard to pass up,” Shannon Kalayanamitr admits. Shannon is the original founder of Moxy and now serves as the group’s CMO. Another key asset Bilna brings into the MoxyBilna family is its own warehouse, she adds.

For Bilna, in turn, a regional play all of a sudden becomes much more accessible. Jérémy is an ecommerce veteran and, before joining Moxy, led ecommerce company Cdiscount in Thailand. He helped facilitate its parent company’s IPO during that time.

Each company brings its set of backers into the union. Moxy, as part of the Ardent Capital family, has strong relations with Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas. Ardent and Sinar Mas are strategic partners on a number of ventures.

How Moxy met Bilna

What women want