JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Lippo Group’s e-commerce arm, MatahariMall.com, has secured an equity round of US$100 million led by Japan’s general trading companies Mitsui & Co. The investment will consist of several tranches over a 12-month period.
Hadi Wenas, MatahariMall.com chief executive, said in a statement previously Mitsui led a funding round in Mercari, a leading Japanese customer-to-customer e-commerce marketplace, valuing the company above $1 billion.
“We are confident about Indonesia, and especially e-commerce in Indonesia. We have closely followed MatahariMall’s robust growth since its inception, and we are extremely excited to be investing in this company,” Nobuaki Kitamori, chief operating officer ITC at Mitsui & Co, said.
Recently, other Lippo Group’s unit PT Matahari Putra Prima Tbk (IDX: MPPA), a multi-format modern retailer which operates Hypermart, Smartclub, Foodmart, Boston and FMX, announced that its additional share purchase option of MatahariMall.com for Rp12,065 per share in all cash transaction valued at Rp99.8 billion.
Based on the new deal, the company’s total shares have raised to 15.73 million shares or equals to 10 percent. With the acquisition, Matahari hopes to benefit from wider access to e-commerce as its development will remain strong this year.
MatahariMall.com, officially launched its operations on Sept. 11, 2015, kick-starting a $500 million quest to conquer the nation’s burgeoning online retail scene. Hadi Wenas, the portal’s chief executive, said MatahariMall.com is an online super-marketplace, where everyone can buy everything and anyone can sell anything, including electronics, fashion, lifestyle and groceries.
The Lippo Group’s director John Riady said that his company and other investors are fully committed to support MatahariMall.com. The chairman of Mataharimall.com, Emirsyah Satar, said the site aimed to capture a 20 per cent share of Indonesia’s online retail market over the next five years.
To establish the e-commerce business, the Lippo Group appointed Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill-Lynch to lead its $200 million first-round financing, with Britain’s Rotschild as financial advisers. (*)