Tokopedia eyes dual listing in US, Indonesia in 3 years

Indonesian ecommerce unicorn Tokopedia is looking to list in its home market and in the US within the next three years, Tokopedia president Patrick Cao told Nikkei Asian Review.

Photo credit: Tokopedia

Tokopedia will “definitely [list in] Indonesia,” with a second listing “most likely” to take place in the US, said Cao. “If you want to go for the international investor profile, plus technology expertise and depth in terms of capital, then US [is the best market]. Considering our peer group as well – Alibaba, Amazon – those guys are all listed [in] the US.”

Nuraini Razak, vice president of corporate communications at Tokopedia, confirmed the company’s IPO plans.

“Tokopedia will definitely enter the stock exchange […]. We have already mapped out, planned, and prepared the appropriate arrangements needed for us to enter the stock exchange long in advance,” she told Tech in Asia in an email.

“We are currently considering another market for dual listing, but definitely Indonesia as our primary choice,” she added, without being specific about the second market for listing.

Founded in 2009, Tokopedia is an online marketplace that allows individuals and business owners in Indonesia to open and maintain their stores for free. It became the fourth unicorn in Indonesia in 2018. It previously raised US$1.1 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund and Alibaba Group, pushing its valuation to around US$7 billion.

It was reported in October last year that Tokopedia was considering to list at home and in another market. The company is looking to do the dual listing because it wants its consumers and sellers to also become shareholders, said Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya.

The startup is also reportedly aiming to raise up to US$1.5 billion in a final private funding round before it goes public. US-based internet companies, as well as existing investors, are looking to participate in the round.

Since Indonesia’s stock exchange is much smaller and less liquid than its global peers, it is reasonable for successful Indonesian startups to have a dual listing, the Nikkei report said.

Apart from Tokopedia, other Indonesian unicorns such as ride-hailing giant Gojek and online travel aggregator Traveloka are also considering dual listing.

Update (January 21, 10:55 am): This article has been updated to include comments from Tokopedia’s vice president of corporate communications, Nuraini Razak.