Palace Confirms Plan for Merger Between Grab and GoTo, Involvement of Danantara
Key Takeaways
|
JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — The Presidential Palace on Friday, Nov 7, 2025 confirmed that the government is involved in discussions for a merger between Indonesia’s PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk and Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd, with the state-backed fund BPI Danantara expected to participate in the deal.
Minister of State Secretariat Prasetyo Hadi said the plan is being discussed at the highest level. “Yes, that’s indeed the plan — a merger between Grab and GoTo,” Prasetyo said at the Istana Merdeka on Friday. He added, “Roughly speaking, it will involve Danantara, but the form is still being worked out.”
He explained that the main objective is to keep both companies operating sustainably, given their role as large employers in the gig-economy ecosystem. “The goal is for these companies to continue operating. These services create jobs for many of our people who work as partners. We’ve come to realise that online-motorcycle drivers are economic heroes, driving the people’s economy,” he said.
Prasetyo also noted that a presidential regulation on ride-hailing and delivery services is still being refined. “It is still being perfected — we’re gathering input from various parties, from driver-partners to platform operators,” he said.
Background and Market Reactions
Speculation about the merger first emerged in May 2025, when Reuters reported that Grab was exploring an acquisition of GoTo valued at about US $7 billion, and that Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund Danantara might join as a domestic anchor investor. Grab later denied any formal talks, saying it “has not entered into any definitive agreements.”
GoTo issued multiple clarifications to the Indonesia Stock Exchange on Feb 4, Mar 19, and May 8, 2025, emphasising that no material information had changed. In its June 9 2025 filing, GoTo management said: “The company cannot comment on market speculation. As of this disclosure date, there is no change in information related to the company.”
President Prabowo Subianto greets Patrick Sugito Walujo, President Director of PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk, and Gojek driver-partners during a press conference at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Monday, Mar 10, 2025. Photo: Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/Cahyo
At the time, GoTo’s Corporate Secretary R.A. Koesoemohadiani added: “From time to time, the group receives offers from various parties. It is the directors’ duty to evaluate all such proposals thoroughly and prudently, in the best long-term interest of shareholders.”
According to a June 9 report by Algo Research, Danantara was “considering acquiring a minority stake in the combined Grab–GoTo entity to reduce foreign ownership dominance and ensure regulatory oversight.”
Grab, meanwhile, publicly dismissed the rumours. Chief of Public Affairs Tirza Munusamy said the company’s priority remained “supporting small businesses and creating sustainable income opportunities for Indonesians.”
Parliament’s Warning on Market Concentration
On May 25, 2025, Deputy Chair of the House Commission XI M. Hanif Dhakiri urged regulators to guard against monopolistic risks. “This merger isn’t just a corporate matter — it could reshape Indonesia’s digital-market structure,” he said. “The state must regulate and supervise, not merely watch from the sidelines.”
Hanif warned that the union of the two super-apps could “create market dominance in transport, food delivery, and digital payments, hurting SMEs, drivers, and consumers.”
He also pointed to the national-security aspect of data concentration. “Whoever controls data controls market behaviour. If that power is monopolised by a single entity, we risk creating a new dependency that endangers digital sovereignty,” he said, calling on KPPU, OJK, and other regulators to act pre-emptively.
Policy and Structural Implications
With the Palace now confirming Danantara’s involvement, the proposed merger has effectively become a matter of strategic national policy, intertwining Indonesia’s digital-economy consolidation with state participation.
Analysts expect that Danantara’s entry would allow the government to influence governance, mitigate foreign-control concerns, and secure better protection for gig-economy workers.
However, the combination would control more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s ride-hailing and food-delivery markets, triggering antitrust scrutiny from the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU).
Under Indonesia’s Law No. 5 of 1999 on the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition, any merger, consolidation, or acquisition that could result in market concentration exceeding 50 percent must be reviewed by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU). The law prohibits transactions that create or strengthen a monopolistic position, defined as control over more than half of a relevant market, or those that could significantly reduce competition or harm consumer welfare.
KPPU Regulation No. 3/2019 further requires companies to notify the commission within 30 business days after completing such a merger, and allows pre-merger consultations for transactions that may raise competition concerns. The commission can impose remedial measures or even unwind the deal if it finds substantial lessening of competition or abuse of dominant position.
Ride Hailing Market
Indonesia sits at the heart of Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing boom. Statista estimates that the region’s ride-hailing market is worth around US$9.4 billion in gross booking value, and a merged Grab–GoTo would control roughly 85 percent of that pie.
Indonesia is by far the largest single market in this ecosystem. Earlier research by Google, Temasek, and Bain showed that Indonesia already led Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing industry in 2019 with an estimated gross merchandise value of about US$5.7 billion, projected to climb sharply in the following years, underscoring its outsized weight in the regional digital-transport economy.
More recent data cited by Reuters and Euromonitor indicate that Grab and GoTo together already command more than 91 percent of Indonesia’s ride-hailing market, effectively operating as a tight duopoly even before any formal merger.
Thus, the proposed transaction is not just about combining two large apps; it would consolidate the overwhelming majority of ride-hailing and food-delivery traffic in Indonesia into a single corporate group, with spillover dominance across Southeast Asia’s mobility sector.
The government is thus balancing between digital-sector consolidation and maintaining fair competition. For now, as Minister Prasetyo Hadi put it, “the shape is still being determined”—indicating that corporate, regulatory, and political negotiations are far from over.