Indonesia's Lippo appoints banks for initial US$200m e-commerce funding

[JAKARTA] Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group has appointed Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead its first round of funding, worth US$200 million, for its e-commerce push.

Lippo, controlled by the Riady family, has also chosen Rothschild as its financial adviser for the transaction. The funding will be used to "dominate e-commerce in Indonesia," it said in a statement on Monday.

Lippo plans to launch payment, chat and other online services early next year as it expands in the nascent e-commerce industry of the world's fourth most populous country, director John Riady told Reuters last month.

Lippo has already earmarked US$500 million for a new online department store, and investment in services planned for the first quarter of 2016 will be on top of that, Mr Riady said.

REUTERS