This weekly newsletter highlights top developments and trends across Southeast Asia’s digital economy and ecosystem, without losing sight of the solid links between the online and offline worlds.
Executive Summary
- The game has changed for DANA
- Gains from GoTo is a welcome bonus for Astra
- GoTo: The synergistic journey continues
- Bank Raya and the march of digital banks
The game has changed for DANA
Indonesian media and digital conglomerate Emtek Group announced last week that it has sold a substantial stake in the digital payments platform DANA to the Sinar Mas Group and e-commerce major Lazada Group.
The combined investments from Sinar Mas and Lazada stood at $554.5 million.
Emtek, through its entity Kreatif Media Karya (KMK), will remain a shareholder in DANA but with a substantially diluted stake. KMK owned 49% of DANA’s parent Elang Andalan Nusantara (EAN) prior to the deal, which has reduced to 6.7% now.
The entry of Lazada as a shareholder could be a game changer for DANA, depending on how committed it is to integrating its business with DANA, much like GoPay-Tokopedia.
The Lazada Group should provide a rich seam of potential users for DANA, given the former’s e-commerce ecosystem in Southeast Asia with around 30 million monthly active users in Indonesia. Even without a major commitment to make DANA the preferred digital payments platform, it immediately expands the platform’s ecosystem. It seems unlikely that Lazada will not commit in some way to DANA.
