Gojek Buys Stake In Indonesian Hypermarket Matahari

Indonesia’s ride-hailing firm Gojek acquired a 4.76 percent stake in the hypermarket business Matahari Putra Prima from its parent company Multipolar, Nikkei Asia reported. 

The brick-and-mortar hypermarket operator Matahari Putra Prima is a division of the Indonesian consortium Lippo Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates, per the news outlet. Lippo’s venture capital unit backs Gojek’s biggest competitor Grab, based in Singapore.

Gojek purchased the stake through a subsidiary at 404 rupiah per share, totaling 144.8 billion rupiah ($10.1 million), according to the report. Matahari Putra Prima also gained capital from two investment firms based in the Cayman Islands. The move by Gojek aligns with its plan to partner with Indoseian eCommerce giant Tokopedia, per Nikkei. 

Agus Arismunandar, the director of Multipolar, said the investment was a strategic move that “has a good rate of return in the future.”

The collaboration could give Gojek inroads to becoming a retail force in Indonesia, both online and off. By partnering with Tokopedia, the unicorn will have a solid percentage of Indonesia’s retail space. Gojek’s Matahari investment will give Gojek access to 208 hypermarkets, supermarkets, grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide, Nikki reported.

The anticipated merger between Gojek and Tokopedia is tracking to become Indonesia’s biggest internet company, with a deal expected to close by the end of August. Both tech startups have the backing of Google, Temasek, and Sequoia Capital India. 

Grab has plans to go public via a merger with Altimeter Capital’s first special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a possible $40 billion valuation.

Physical retail is now in the mind space of retailers as the world reopens post-pandemic after 14-plus months of lockdowns and other restrictions. Neighborhood Goods Co-Founder and CEO Matt Alexander said in a PYMNTS interview with Karen Webster that he thinks there is a big opportunity ahead for brick-and-mortar.