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Bukalapak aims to raise $1.5 billion through giant IPO

E-commerce unicorn Bukalapak is planning to raise Rp 22 trillion (US$1.5 billion) from its initial public offering (IPO) in late July, prior to its listing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in August.

Eisya A. Eloksari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, July 13, 2021 Published on Jul. 12, 2021 Published on 2021-07-12T15:06:58+07:00

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Bukalapak aims to raise $1.5 billion through giant IPO

I

ndonesia-based e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak aims to raise nearly Rp 22 trillion (US$1.5 billion) from its initial public offering (IPO) at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), which would make it the country’s biggest IPO in more than 10 years.

According to the company’s prospectus, it would sell 25.76 billion shares to the public priced at Rp 750 to Rp 850 each, which would put the total funds raised at between Rp 19.3 trillion and Rp 21.9 trillion.

“This is a milestone because for the first time, a technology unicorn start-up will be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange,” Bukalapak CEO Rachmat Kaimuddin said during an online press briefing on Friday.

Bukalapak’s IPO is poised to be the largest-ever IPO in the country, overthrowing coal mining giant PT Adaro Energy’s IPO that raised $1.3 billion in 2008. However, such a milestone would be eclipsed by a GoTo Group public listing that has been predicted to raise as much as $2 billion.

Bukalapak is waiting for a Financial Services Authority (OJK) statement expected to come out on July 26 that would approve the listing. Bukalapak plans to have its offering period from July 28 to 30 and its IDX debut on August 6 under the ticker BUKA.

Read also: Bukalapak eyes IDX listing in July

The company’s net losses shrank 51.7 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 1.35 trillion last year even though income rose 25.5 percent yoy to Rp 1.35 trillion, according to Bukalapak’s financial statement.

Last year, Bukalapak booked a Rp 1.35 trillion revenue, up 25.6 percent yoy from the previous year.

“We hope this trend will continue so we become a profitable and sustainable company,” Rachmat said.

Bukalapak is one of Indonesia’s five unicorns, which are start-ups valued above $1 billion. The others are ride-hailing company Gojek, travel booking firm Traveloka, e-commerce firm Tokopedia and e-wallet provider OVO.

Despite their significant funding and soaring gross merchandise values (GMVs), not one of the five unicorns has recorded a profit so far.

The IPO would potentially drive up Bukalapak’s value around $4 billion to $5 billion from $2.5 billion.

Rachmat said that going forward, Bukalapak would further bank on the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially micro-retail stalls (warung), in tier two and three cities through its Mitra Bukalapak program.

Read also: Tech giants race to digitize ‘warung’

“We are focusing on the SMEs market because they are the prime movers of Indonesia’s economy,” Rachmat said, claiming that Bukalapak’s market share in the offline micro-retail market had reached 39 percent.

Bukalapak president Teddy Oetomo added that Mitra Bukalapak was expected to give a “significant and dominant” contribution to the company’s revenue.

Bukalapak’s IPO came amid a flurry of news reports this year that Indonesian unicorns were planning to go public either at home or abroad.

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