Dear Reader,
The biggest development in our region has been the turmoil in Indonesia’s public equities market.
Top executives at Indonesia’s stock exchange IDX and financial services regulator OJK have resigned at the end of a turbulent week that wiped some $80 billion off the market’s capitalisation.
The rout followed an MSCI review that highlighted “fundamental investability issues” owing to “opacity in shareholding structures and concerns about possible coordinated trading behaviour that undermines proper price formation.”
The global index provider on January 27 then warned that, if transparency was not improved by May, Indonesia could be downgraded from its current emerging market status, to a frontier market.
However, the chief investment officer of Indonesian sovereign fund Danantara, Pandu Sjahrir, shrugged off the development, saying that the turbulence in Indonesia’s equities market was not a structural setback but a necessary stress test. However, he acknowledged that there are many aspects in the Indonesian market “to fix”, and institutions such as Danantara exist to build investable platforms.
Separately, Danantara had earlier indicated it could seek an exchange listing this year.
Sjahrir was speaking at DealStreetAsia’s Indonesia PE-VC Summit 2026, the annual event gathering allocators, investors, and entrepreneurs from across Asia Pacific.
The other keynote sessions saw GoTo’s new CEO Hans Patuwo, in his first public outing, speaking about the company’s focus on operational execution, as it aims to sustain its recent profitability gains; and a fireside with Grab CFO Peter Oey on the company’s plans for its $7 billion war chest of cash. (These conversations took place amid continuous talk of a potential merger of the two rivals.)
Amid the broader questions surrounding the challenges faced by both funders and entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia, venture capital investors believe the region’s funding downturn is stabilising. Expectations are also more grounded, with the excesses of 2021 left behind, as panellists told the audience at the PE-VC Summit.
Indeed, in DealStreetAsia’s latest report on startup funding in Southeast Asia – data for 2025 indicating that the industry could be coming out of the woods after hitting a low earlier in the year. Dive into the data and findings here.
If you missed our event, catch up on these and more sessions here throughout the coming week.
Deals in the pipe
PT Telkom Indonesia’s plan to divest its healthcare subsidiary AdMedika is close to being transacted, in a deal valuing AdMedika at around $80-100 million. Singapore-based Fullerton Health Indonesia could be the buyer, DealStreetAsia has learnt.
Blackstone is said to be weighing the sale of Interplex’s information, communications, and technology (ICT) unit, which could be valued as much as $1 billion. Blackstone had acquired Singapore-based Interplex from EQT’s BPEA fund for an enterprise value of $1.6 billion in 2022.
Japanese insurance major Tokio Marine has invested $5 million for a minority stake in Southeast Asia-focused insurtech startup Igloo, as regulatory filings confirmed an earlier DealStreetAsia report.
In China, StepFun, an AI startup specialising in the development of large language models, has raised over 5 billion yuan ($717 million) in a Series B+ round of financing as one of the largest LLM investments so far in the country. Investors include existing shareholders Tencent Holdings, Qiming Venture Partners, and 5Y Capital.
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has invested in San Francisco-based AI workspace player Notion at a valuation of $11 billion, along with existing investors Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.
Funds raising
Hengxu Capital, the PE platform of Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor Corp, secured some 2 billion yuan ($287.6 million) for the first close of its fourth flagship Chinese yuan fund, which has a target of 3.5 billion yuan ($503.3 million).
Impact manager responsAbility will manage a 200-million-euro ($239 million) private equity fund mandate from Stella Vermögensverwaltungs GmbH, the investment entity of the Heinz Hermann Thiele Family Foundation and Julia-Thiele Schürhoff. The strategy will invest over the long term in growth-oriented companies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, according to a statement.
Philippines-focused private equity firm Navegar is looking at raising $250 million for its third buyout fund, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) considering a $40-million investment. Navegar III is targeting investments of between $30 million and $50 million in companies in the Philippines across various sectors.
More private equity transactions throughout this week are tracked here.
Other stories from the team not to miss:
- Philippine sovereign wealth fund Maharlika Investment Corp’s capital deployment plans for 2026;
- This analysis on Singapore-headquartered payments fintech Airwallex’s growth story, amid a probe by Australian authorities;
- How Indonesia’s digital banks are charting their growth amid a crowded landscape;
- Despite the myriad challenges in the region, Asia Pacific is re-emerging as a priority for global investors, according to a Coller Capital report;
- And a closer look at the outlook for the PE-VC industry in India.
