Indonesian logistics company SiCepat has entered the electric vehicle (EV) business through a joint venture with NFC Indonesia, a subsidiary of the listed digital company M Cash Integrasi, the companies announced in a statement.
The deal marks the latest tie-up between SiCepat and M Cash. Both companies have been making investments into each other’s subsidiary units.
The newly formed EV company, Energi Selalu Baru (ESB), will focus on the distribution of electric motorcycles, battery exchange and supporting services. Following the joint venture agreement, M Cash subsidiaries Digital Mediatama Maxima and Telefast Indonesia will take minority stakes in ESB by providing commercial, infrastructure and ecosystem support.
ESB will then take a majority stake in EV manufacturing company, PT Volta Indonesia Semesta.
Volta will be the key production house of the electric motorcycles for ESB with NFC Indonesia providing and administering the digital platform for the vehicle registration and management, payments and rewards.
ESB will leverage on SiCepat and TFAS logistics and network capabilities to plan and deploy the battery exchange station. The battery exchange network expansion will also utilise DMMX’s vast retail network of stores across Indonesia.
“We expect that as battery technology improves with time, going green in the transportation/logistics industry will become increasingly affordable and economical,” said SiCepat CEO The Kim Hai, adding that the company is set to add up to 5,000 electric motorcycles to its fleet in the first phase of the EV project.
Meanwhile, NFC Indonesia president director Abraham Theofilus said it seeks to assuage hesitations associated with EV adoption by users to manage their electric vehicles and associated battery usage through its digital platform.
String of deals
The electric vehicle JV marks the latest in a series of investment transactions between SiCepat and the subsidiary companies of M Cash Integrasi, which includes NFC Indonesia (NFCX), as well as Digital Mediatama Maxima (DMMX) and Telefast Indonesia (TFAS) – all listed on the local bourse.
In January, SiCepat acquired a 51% stake in F&B ordering platform DigiResto from an M Cash subsidiary. As a result of the transaction, SiCepat became the last-mile delivery provider for DigiResto and continues to eye the food delivery market for additional revenue opportunities.
The DigiResto deal was followed by an investment in Logitek Digital Nusantara (LDN), a company under M Cash subsidiary Telefast, which had been helping develop SiCepat sub-services such as a WhatsApp-based customer application called SiCepat Klik and delivery point services SiCepat Points. In return, Telefast in April announced the acquisition of a 15% stake in SiCepat’s sister company Clodeo.