KONTAN.CO.ID - ​JAKARTA. GoTo surged as much as 23% in its stock market debut on Monday after Indonesia's largest tech company raised $1.1 billion in a keenly watched IPO, fuelling expectations of more offerings from the sector in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

The initial public offering (IPO) is the world's fifth-largest this year, Refinitiv data showed, and came despite many companies delaying launches due to the Russia-Ukraine war, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty.

PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk was formed by last year's merger of ride-hailing-to-payments company Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia, with its businesses straddling millions of small and mid-sized firms across the archipelago.

"There was no perfect timing for this IPO, but our focus was on Indonesia, with a local investor audience," GoTo's CEO Andre Soelistyo, a former private equity banker who steered Gojek's push into consumer services, told reporters.

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The strong listing is a boost especially for tech giants backing GoTo, including SoftBank Group's Vision Fund 1 and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, who have been battered by the global market rout since late 2021.

It also affirms the attractiveness of the $70 billion digital market in Indonesia, where record venture funding is creating a wave of startups.

"GoTo's IPO is a watershed moment for Indonesia," said Joel Shen, head of Asia technology at global law firm Withers. "With millions of users, drivers, and merchants, there's no company that's more plugged in to Indonesia's digital economy," he said.

GoTo's shares rose to as much as 416 rupiah ($0.0290) minutes after trading began. It priced the IPO at 338 rupiah per share, the high end of an indicative range.

The shares, which were sold only to investors in Indonesia, unlike most other offerings, later traded at 400 rupiah. It became Indonesia's third most-valuable listed firm at $33 billion, after Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia, and just above Telkom Indonesia's $31.6 billion value.

"I hope that GoTo IPO will motivate our young generations to give new energy for Indonesia's economic progress," Indonesia President Joko Widodo said in a video message at the listing ceremony, which kicked off with a video of GoTo's senior leadership in Gojek driver uniforms riding in-house Electrum brand electric motorcycles.

Editor: Yudho Winarto