<article>Indonesia&#8217;s fintech startup Cermati is in the process of being acquired by a regional tech giant, believed to be China&#8217;s Alibaba, according to two sources aware of the development.</article>

Indonesia&#8217;s fintech startup Cermati is in the process of being acquired by a regional tech giant, believed to be China&#8217;s Alibaba, according to two sources aware of the development.
Cermati&#8217;s online platform helps customers research and buy financial products such as credit cards, auto loans, personal loans and mortgages. It claims to have become the most visited financial e-commerce site in Indonesia.
It last raised a funding in early 2017, securing a seven-digit US dollar Series A+ from Orange Growth Capital (OGC), having previously raised $1.9 million in an East Venture-led Series A round.
When asked for comment by this portal on the rumoured acquisition by Alibaba, Cermati said it “can’t confirm or deny this market buzz”.
The startup was understood to have been in talks with around six investors to raise a Series B funding of around $8 million. However, the fundraising process was abruptly ended after a regional powerhouse evinced interest in acquiring Cermati.
The deal size of the acquisition is not yet known but sources say Cermati’s valuation for the annulled Series B round was $25-30 million.
According to the two sources, the acquirer is likely to be Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial and the acquisition will be done gradually, consistent with the Chinese giant&#8217;s acquisition style in markets like India and other parts of the world.
In the last one year, Indonesia has witnessed a number of fintech acquisitions by big local and regional players. In April last year, the country saw payment startup Kudo being acquired by  Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab.
The move was followed later on in the year by Grab’s competitor Go-Jek acquiring offline payments processing company Kartuku, online payment gateway Midtrans, and local community-based saving and lending network Mapan.
Acquiring an Indonesian startup would be seen as a further statement of intent by Alibaba to make its mark in Southeast Asia after it opened its first office in Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last week.
Previously, the Chinese company bought Southeast Asian e-commerce firm Lazada from Rocket Internet in 2016 and has since invested $4 billion in the firm. Alibaba is also a controlling investor in Indonesia’s Tokopedia and recently announced that it is investing $320 million in Thailand.
Recently, Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial raised around $14 billion in what market watchers called the biggest-ever single fundraising globally by a private company.
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/64015-64015/">Indonesia: Cermati closes Series A extension from Orange Growth Capital</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/ant-financial-funding-2-99425/">Ant Financial mops up a staggering $14b in latest funding round</a>

The deal size of the acquisition is not yet known but sources say Cermati’s valuation for a recently annulled Series B round was $25-30 million.

Alibaba said to be likely suitor for Indonesian fintech startup Cermati

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Alibaba said to be likely suitor for Indonesian fintech startup Cermati

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