Indonesian beleaguered aquaculture startup eFishery’s plans to divest parts of its technology portfolio have quietly come to a halt, leaving prospective buyers uncertain about whether the company still intends to move forward with the asset sale, DealStreetAsia has learnt.
Despite initial momentum and interest from multiple parties in the first half of this year, discussions have gone dormant since late July, according to a source directly involved in the matter and internal documents reviewed by DealStreetAsia.
At least four potential buyers—agritech platform Gokomodo, PT Sakti Biru Indonesia (SBI), Japfa’s shrimp-unit PT Suri Tani Pemuka (STP), and Dubai-based Aqua Bridge Group—had engaged in deal talks with the company earlier this year.
The sale process never reached the finish line as legal troubles escalated on July 31, when eFishery executives Gibran Huzaifah, Angga Hadrian Raditya, and Andri Yadi were detained by the Indonesian police for alleged financial wrongdoing. However, Yadi, in a separate statement dated 26 September, said the allegation against him—related to a suspected nominee arrangement in the DycodeX acquisition—is separate from the dual-bookkeeping case, and that he had no financial authority in the company.
The transaction talks have not moved forward since end-July and eFishery has not responded to buyer inquiries in recent weeks, the source said, leaving the status of the sale process unclear.
According to internal materials reviewed by DealStreetAsia, the sale plan covered both product IP and potential team transfers, depending on buyer preference. The sale plan, which included selected intellectual property, hardware products, and engineering talent, was intended to raise funds to pay back investors.
DealStreetAsia reported in February that investors could recoup up to $42.7 million from liquidating Indonesian assets under the most optimistic scenario—from selling assets, including cash reserves and short-term investments, or just under 10 cents for every dollar invested.
Internal documents indicate that the proposed liquidation structure gives preference shareholders first claim to the cash pool, “strictly at the original price they paid for their shares, rather than based on their ownership stake.”
Frontrunner
Among the contenders, Japfa’s STP had held advanced talks with eFishery to acquire two products: a farm management software system and an IoT-based water-quality monitoring product. The proposed deal value stood at 6 billion rupiah (approximately $361,000).
Source said by mid-June, the parties had narrowed the process to either outright acquisition of the assets or acqui-hiring the engineering team into STP. The negotiation was “weeks, not months” from signing, the source said, with talks already covering transition timelines, product handover steps, and technology roadmap responsibilities.
However, the process came to a halt following the arrests of eFishery executives on July 31. STP is understood to have not proceeded further after receiving no follow-up from eFishery.
The other contender, Dubai’s Aqua Bridge Holding, was said to be in exploratory talks with the firm to evaluate eFeeder and other products for possible deployment in India through its networks. It had requested test units for pilots, sources mentioned above said.
Per the internal pitch documents, a potential deal would provide Aqua Bridge with access to proprietary devices and telemetry insights, while eFishery would gain a channel into large-scale shrimp production systems outside Indonesia.
Meanwhile, responding to a query, Gokomodo CEO Samuel Tirtasaputra said, “We met with eFishery’s new caretaker just to discuss general topics on industry and business. As we are in different industries within the agri landscape, no discussion about potential takeover/bidding was discussed.”
DealStreetAsia has reached out to STP, FTI Consulting, which now acts as eFishery management, PT SBI, and Aqua Bridge Holding for comment.
Legal cloud
The timeline for any revival is further complicated by internal developments at the corporate-structure level.
eFishery’s Indonesia entity, PT Multidaya Teknologi Nusantara (PT MTN), is expected to be liquidated by the end of this year, with books likely closing by April 2026, for tax purposes, while separately, eFishery India is already in the process of liquidation, the same source said.
The sudden halt in the asset sale process coincides with intensifying legal scrutiny around the company. Although the legal proceedings are separate from the asset-sale process, several industry observers noted that the overlapping headlines have created market confusion and contributed to hesitation among prospective buyers.
