When Gojek steps into the Grab-Tokopedia-Ovo love triangle

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Hello readers,

Here’s a question for you, dear reader: Back in your school days, did you ever have to stop being friends with someone just so you could pursue a relationship with someone else? It doesn’t even have to be romance-related – sometimes that’s how clique situations are in the teen years, right? Maybe you were, sadly, the one that had to be left behind.

In the potential Gojek-Tokopedia merger, digital payments service Ovo could reprise the role of the jilted party, with Gojek’s payment service GoPay possibly taking the spotlight on Tokopedia, which technically owns shares in Ovo. I wonder how this’ll affect the likelihood of the merger going ahead?

Today we look at,

• The payments complications in the potential Gojek-Tokopedia merger
• GGV Capital raises new funds
• Other newsy highlights such as Tesla’s and Apple’s differing 2020 endings

PREMIUM SUMMARY

The potential Gojek-Tokopedia merger has a payments maze to navigate

The setting is simple: Tokopedia (and Grab) own stakes in Ovo, while Gojek has its own payments service, GoPay. A Gojek-Tokopedia deal would likely lead to GoPay taking Ovo’s place as the ecommerce site’s preferred payment method – which would have implications on Grab as well. However, the hows of the matter aren’t quite as simple.

• No two-timing allowed: If the merger happens, it seems likely that Tokopedia will divest its investment in Ovo. Bank Indonesia has a policy that prohibits any entity from holding a controlling interest in more than one e-money issuer.
• Learning to fly on its own: But Ovo may not be as concerned with these developments. One industry source we spoke with says that while it was a big deal for Ovo to have partnered with Tokopedia during its early days, the fintech startup’s growth over the past few years has reduced its dependence on the ecommerce platform.
• Strategic considerations: If the combined entity’s goal is to do an initial public offering, keeping Ovo’s users and transactions would also let the Gojek-Tokopedia entity present the best possible numbers for such a listing.

Read more: Will Ovo complicate a Gojek-Tokopedia merger?

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