Singapore-based property developer and investor OUE’s wholly-owned subsidiary is acquiring about a 17.2% stake in Lippo Group’s tech investment vehicle PT Multipolar Tbk for Rp1 trillion ($70 million) in a bid to tap into the country’s rapidly growing digital economy.
Lippo Karawaci CEO John Riady had, during a fireside chat at the Asia PE-VC Summit 2021, mentioned the group’s intention to put Multipolar at the forefront of the company’s technology and investing for the future.
Besides tech companies, Multipolar also seeks to partner Lippo’s retail businesses while forging collaborations with GoTo—the country’s biggest tech group—which recently invested in Lippo’s retail unit Matahari Putra Prima.
In a filing to Singapore bourse on Monday, OUE said it would acquire about 2.5 billion shares of Multipolar at Rp400 apiece. The purchase price was at a premium of 11.1% compared to Multipolar’s closing price on Dec. 17.
OUE is acquiring the shares from PT Inti Anugerah Pratama (IAP), an investment holding company held by Stephen Riady and James Tjahaja Riady. IAP holds around 8.97 billion of Multipolar shares, representing 55.1% of the company. The transaction has yet to show on Indonesia’s Stock Exchange filings.
Stephen Riady has an effective interest in 40% of the outstanding shares of IAP. He is also OUE executive chairman, group chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of OUE.
“The transaction will give OUE the opportunity to participate in Indonesia’s rapidly growing digital economy through MPC (Multipolar), whose portfolio businesses sit at the intersection of Indonesia’s technology and consumer sectors,” OUE corporate secretary Kelvin Chua said in the filing.
Multipolar, along with GoTo Group, will also be participating in a capital raise by MPPA to provide growth capital to execute the latter’s omnichannel retail strategy, and strengthen its balance sheet, he added.
Multipolar managed to turn the corner by posting Rp88 billion in profits in the third quarter of 2021 against a loss of Rp675 billion in the corresponding period last year. It registered a revenue of Rp7.4 trillion in Q3 this year against Rp7.6 trillion for the same period in 2020.
Shares of MPC closed at Rp380 apiece, up 5.56% on Monday. Meanwhile, OUE shares were up 0.76% to S$1.32 apiece.