Djarum-Backed E-Commerce Startup Blibli Weighing IPO

(Bloomberg) -- PT Global Digital Niaga, an e-commerce platform backed by Indonesian conglomerate Djarum Group, has picked advisers for a potential initial public offering in Jakarta as early as next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The company, also known as Blibli, is working with Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley to explore a possible first-time share sale, said the people. Other banks could be added to the lineup, they said, asking not to be named as the process is private.

Deliberations are at an early stage, and the size of the IPO could depend on which businesses are included, the people said. 

A representative for Blibli said the company is open to options that would expand its ecosystem, while declining to comment directly on the IPO. A representative for Credit Suisse declined to comment, while a Morgan Stanley spokesperson wasn’t available for comment.

The potential listing plan comes as the world’s fourth most populous country has been one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with low vaccination coverage and months of movement restrictions boosting demand for online shopping. 

Should Blibli go ahead with an IPO, it would be joining its rival PT Bukalapak.com on the local bourse. The firm raised $1.5 billion in July in the country’s biggest ever IPO, overtaking PT Adaro Energy’s $1.3 billion offering in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ride-hailing giant GoTo, the country’s biggest tech startup with a valuation of $18 billion, is also expected to list in Jakarta. 

Founded in 2011, Blibli is an online mall for goods including electronics and lifestyle products, and collaborates with more than 100,000 business partners, according to its website. It offers shipping through its own Blibli Express Service as well as 27 logistics partners across Indonesia’s largest cities, its representative said.

It is backed by GDP Venture, the venture capital arm of the Djarum Group, whose dominance in the country’s cigarette and banking businesses has helped make its owners, the Hartono brothers, Indonesia’s two richest people. Budi and Michael Hartono have net worths of $16.5 billion and $15.5 billion respectively, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

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