Adia-backed GoTo allocates $20m in shares to drivers before $1.1bn IPO

Indonesia's biggest technology company GoTo, which is backed by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, is allocating more than $20 million in shares to its driver-partners before its $1.1 billion initial public offering.

The driver-partners of Indonesia’s most valuable start-up will receive the share grant under the Gotong Royong Share Programme, the company said on Monday.

GoTo Group, which went ahead with the listing plans despite global equities market volatility, last week priced its shares in the top half of its indicative IPO range. It will be one of Asia's biggest IPOs so far this year when it lists on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the third-largest in the region in 2022 after LG Energy Solution and Jinko Solar.

Almost all driver-partners in Indonesia – including GoRide, GoCar, GoSend, GoFood and GoBox – will have the opportunity to participate in the IPO programme. The eligibility criteria are based on factors, including service category, the length of time they have been registered as a partner, and the driver-partner's active status, the company said.

Through this programme, each Indonesian driver-partner who registered between 2010 to 2016 has the opportunity to receive 4,000 of GoTo’s Series A shares, while those registered from 2017 to February 2022 can receive 1,000, it said.

In addition, GoTo established the GoTo Future Fund, an endowment that aims to support initiatives and solutions that benefit the lives of the company's stakeholders while also adhering to sustainability commitments of zero emissions, zero waste and zero barriers. The company has allocated about $216m in Series A shares to the fund.

GoTo was formed in May 2021 through the merger of the country’s largest start-ups, ride-hailing and food delivery firm Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia, in an $18bn deal. The company has grown quickly amid the rapid expansion of Indonesia’s digital economy that is expected to reach $124bn in size by 2025, growing from $44bn in 2020, according to a study by Bain, Google and Temasek.

After the Jakarta listing, the company could consider a subsequent listing in the US, Andre Soelistyo, chief executive of GoTo Group, told The National in November.

“We'll start with the Indonesian stock exchange … we will do a subsequent dual listing,” he said at the time.

Adia, which operates on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, has invested $400m to lead a pre-IPO fund-raising round, the sovereign wealth fund said in October last year.