Google and Temasek Holdings Pte have agreed to invest about $350 million in PT Tokopedia, people familiar with the matter said, a major cash infusion that will bankroll the Indonesian online mall’s post-Covid-19 expansion.
The Alphabet Inc. unit and Singapore’s state investment firm could sign an agreement for the funding soon, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing the deal before it’s formally concluded. The financing falls short of the initial goal of between $500 million to $1 billion that Bloomberg News reported in July, though Tokopedia may still be looking for more investors.
Tokopedia, the online marketplace backed by SoftBank Group Corp., was said to have held talks with U.S. internet giants including Facebook Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. The backing of Google and Temasek is a vote of confidence for one of Indonesia’s biggest e-commerce operators, which rode a surge in online shopping during the pandemic.
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