Indonesia's Bukalapak gets investment from S.Korea's Shinhan, says valuation $2.5 bln (updated)

Shinhan Financial

04/10/2019 05:54

(Adds Bukalapak comment, market context)
    JAKARTA Oct 4 (Reuters) - Indonesian e-commerce firm
Bukalapak on Friday said South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group
Co Ltd  055550.KS  joined its latest fundraising round that
valued the startup at over $2.5 billion.
    Bukalapak did not disclose the amount it will receive
through Shinhan's investment banking unit Shinhan GIB, nor the
size of the stake Shinhan would gain.
    Other participants in Bukalapak's closing Series F
fundraising included Indonesian media conglomerate Emtek, a
long-time backer, the e-commerce firm said in a statement.
    Bukalapak, whose other backers include Singapore sovereign
wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd  GIC.UL  and China's Ant Financial
 ANTFIN.UL , raised $50 million in a previous fundraising round
in January from South Korean firms led by Mirae Asset Daewoo Co
Ltd  006800.KS  and internet portal Naver Corp  035420.KS .
    Surging smartphone use and rising middle-class income in a
country of 260 million people have made Indonesia's e-commerce
industry a battleground for foreign investors.
    The archipelago's internet economy is the region's
fastest-growing and is likely to be worth $133 billion by 2025,
showed a 2019 report by Alphabet Inc's  GOOGL.O  Google,
Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd  TEM.UL 
and global business consultants Bain & Co.
    A spokeswoman for Bukalapak said "the new investment will
ensure we have enough capital to execute our long-term strategy
and business plan, which includes in our marketplace and (agent
network) mitra bukalapak."
    Bukalapak previously told Reuters it expected to break even
in three years' time, as it adds product segments and expands
coverage in small towns.
    The company became a unicorn - a privately backed startup
valued above $1 billion - after a fundraising round in late
2017.

 (Reporting by Fanny Potkin & Ed Davies; Editing by Christopher
Cushing)
 ((f.potkin@thomsonreuters.com;))