Tokopedia hires Morgan Stanley and Citi to accelerate public listing plan

“We have not decided yet which market and method, and are still considering options. […] SPAC is a potential option that we could consider but we have not committed to anything at the moment,” the company said in a statement.

The statement comes after Bloomberg reported that Bridgetown Holdings, the blank-check company backed by billionaires Richard Li and Peter Thiel, is considering a potential merger with the Jakarta-based company.

In the transaction, Tokopedia, which is backed by SoftBank and Alibaba, would be valued at US$8 billion to US$10 billion, sources said in the report, adding that Li is already a minority investor in Tokopedia.

Discussions are currently in their early stages, and Bridgetown could still look for opportunities elsewhere, the people said. Representatives for Bridgetown and Tokopedia had earlier declined Bloomberg’s requests for comments.

Privately held companies are increasingly looking to raise capital through merging with special purpose acquisition companies, said the report. The deal in question is in accordance with Bridgetown’s strategy, which is to focus on a target in the technology, financial services, or media sectors in Southeast Asia.

The development comes after the blank-check company completed US$550 million in an initial public offering in October.

That same month, Tokopedia received investment from Google and Temasek, people familiar with the matter told Tech in Asia.  The deal gave the startup a pre-money valuation of US$7.5 billion, according to another report.

Update (December 17, 13:00 pm SGT): This article has been updated to include Tokopedia hiring Morgan Stanley and Citi to accelerate the public listing plan.