Shares of Indonesian ecommerce unicorn Blibli rose on their debut after its parent company raised 8tn rupiah ($509mn), marking the country’s second-biggest equity listing this year as groups rush to go public.
Global Digital Niaga, Blibli’s owner, rose as much as 4.9 per cent on Tuesday before retreating to a 1.3 per cent gain in the afternoon. Shares were priced at 450 rupiah each at the top end of the range.
Indonesia has had one of the most active exchanges this year, despite volatility in global markets and subdued valuations, especially for technology companies.
The Jakarta Composite index is up more than 7 per cent year to date, compared to a fall of 29 per cent for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and a 20.1 per cent drop for the S&P 500 in the US.
Part of that can be attributed to a government privatisation drive. The state-owned enterprises ministry has said it is planning 14 IPOs to help reform the $606bn sector. Pertamina Geothermal Energy, a unit of government-run energy group Pertamina, is expected to list before the end of the year.
However, technology groups that have listed are trading below their issue prices. Indonesian company GoTo, which offers everything from ride-hailing to payment services, raised $1.1bn in April.
GoTo, in which Blibli invested in 2018, also jumped on its debut, but shares are now 42 per cent lower than the company’s IPO price. Bukalapak, another tech company which listed last year, is down 67 per cent from its IPO price.
Blibli’s free float is about 15 per cent, low compared to other technology companies that have listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The company is backed by Djarum Group, one of Indonesia’s biggest conglomerates, which holds most of the company. Djarum Group’s businesses include tobacco, online travel and supermarkets. It also controls lender Bank Central Asia.
Blibli said in its prospectus that it intends to use capital from the listing to pay down debt. The unprofitable online commerce group doubled its losses in the first half of 2022 to 2.48tn rupiah. It reported revenues of 6.77tn rupiah over the same period.
Founded in 2010, Blibli is led by co-founder and chief executive Kusumo Martanto. It says it has an “omnichannel” strategy encompassing a mixture of offline stores and online shopping services. It also owns online travel agency Tiket.com.