Indonesian investment firm PT Kresna Graha Investama Tbk (KREN) has purchased 35 per cent equity participation in PT Arjuna Indotech Media (AIM). The investment value is in order of “few million USD”, a Kresna director told DEALTREETASIA.
Kresna – the only Indonesian listed company who has significant portfolio in the internet space – has been working actively to expand its digital business. In June, Kresna bought 20 per cent stake in Indonesian-focused O2O e-commerce Nurbaya Initiative for $2 million.
Commenting on the investment, Kresna director Suryandy Jahja said his company has “significant plans” ahead through Arjuna Indotech.
“Arjuna Indotech Media is an OTT like BestTV in China, but we haven’t launched as yet…we are hoping to launch by the end of September or early October,” Jahja said.
Indonesia, with a population of over 250 million people, 70 million internet active users and 300 million mobile connections, has a lot of potential for entertainment and media businesses.
A survey by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) had revealed that Indonesia’s entertainment and media markets would grow 10 per cent until 2018. This number is way higher than the five to six per cent range for Asia Pacific and global markets.
“Looking at this prospect, the company believes that Arjuna Indotech can bring a synergetic value to the ecosystem that Kresna is currently building,” said Kresna management in a statement.
Riding on the momentum of Southeast Asia’s digital boom, Kresna has continued efforts to strengthen its foothold as Indonesia’s leading digital infrastructure player.
During the period of January until May, Kresna has acquired a number of startups. They include satellite services DNK, ticket booking platform Padiciti, and on-demand business performance app Kpisoft, among others.
The company now has a comprehensive portfolio in numerous sectors, including e-wallet, online payment aggregator, BSD Smart Digital City project, travel e-commerce, e-groceries, and offline-to-online market place for MSME.
The digital business is poised to be one of Kresna’s main engines, along with the asset management and securities business.
Indonesia’s B2C e-commerce demand alone is predicted grow by 51 per cent within the next five years, reaching $13.8 billion within the next five years, while the whole industry is expected to reach $130 billion. However, only 27 per cent out of 56.5 million SMEs are considered “ready” to go online.
To overcome this problem, the Indonesian government has introduced six main initiatives for the sector. Three of the initiatives cover supportive policies for technology and venture investing. This includes attractive and easy exit strategy schemes for investors as well as access to market funding, such as subsidized soft loans (KUR) and capital seeding for venture capital firms.
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