Gojek and Tokopedia said to be finalising US$18b merger to form 'Goto'

INDONESIAN Internet companies Gojek and Tokopedia are reportedly finalising a US$18 billion merger, with plans for the combined business to be called Goto - pronounced as "go to".

The two companies are expecting to close the deal as early as this month, tech news outlet The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The top management for Goto will consist of four senior executives, with two coming from each company, The Information said. The quartet includes Gojek's co-chief executive officers (CEOs) Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi, and Tokopedia's CEO William Tanuwijaya and president Patrick Cao.

There have been reports of a potential merger between the ride-hailing giant and e-commerce provider since the beginning of this year, coming amid news that negotiations for a proposed merger between Gojek and Singapore-based Grab had ended.

On Tuesday, Grab announced plans to go public in the US via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The merger with Altimeter Growth Corp would give Grab an equity value of around US$39.6 billion, the largest blank-cheque merger to date.

Read more:

• Why the Grab-Gojek ride was not meant to be
• Ride to nowhere? The Grab-Gojek story thus far