Venture capital-backed Cashlez Worldwide Indonesia (Cashlez), which provides a mobile point-of-sale service, is planning to raise 100 billion rupiah ($6.68 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) in March this year, the company confirmed to DealStreetAsia on Thursday.
The development was first reported by InvestorDaily.
The startup, which will sell 20 per cent of its enlarged share capital, will allocate its IPO proceeds to acquire a company with a similar business model. Cashlez said it will purchase more than 51 per cent of the startup.
“The firm that we’d like to acquire has a similar business to us, but it has a more specific line of work, such as creating a non-cash toll road transaction platform, a parking app, and a vending machine,” Cashlez CEO Teddy Setiawan Tee said.
Local brokerage firm Sinarmas Sekuritas will be the underwriter for the IPO.
Setiawan said the company targets to reach profitability two years after listing its shares on the acceleration board of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
IDX’s acceleration board aims to cater to SMEs that are not yet qualified to list on the bourse’s main or development boards. The new board, which launched in July last year, does not require the startup to have net tangible assets.
Setiawan said the firm chose the IPO route to implement good corporate governance practices and also to avail tax incentives.
The firm is now seeking the approval of the country’s Financial Services Authority (OJK).
Cashlez, founded in 2015, claims to have handled transactions worth 3.8 trillion rupiah by the end of 2019. It targets to reach 10 trillion rupiah in transactions this year.
Last year, the firm had raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round of funding led by Japanese diversified conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation. Existing investor state-owned CVC Mandiri Capital had also participated in the round.
“One of our investees, Cashlez, is planning to IPO on the Jakarta Stock Exchange this coming March. Working towards a smooth listing and profitable exit for investors,” Mandiri Capital president director Eddi Danusaputro said in a LinkedIn post.
Cashlez secured $2 million in a seed funding round from Mandiri Capital, local investment firm GAN Capital and several individual investors.
