GoTo’s IPO looms large as date with jittery stock market awaits

Opening Bell 🔔 is Tech in Asia’s free newsletter, which brings you the biggest news and latest trends around publicly listed Asian tech companies. [Read from your browser]( Opening Bell 🔔 Welcome to the Opening Bell! Delivered every Monday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and latest trends on Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. Hello {NAME} GoTo Group is set to raise [US$1.1 billion]( at a projected market value of about US$28 billion when it debuts on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) on April 11 in one of Asia’s biggest initial public offerings (IPO) this year. While the IPO of Indonesia's largest tech firm - born from the merger of super app Gojek and ecommerce giant Tokopedia - has long been in the works, its timing has raised a few eyebrows. Investor appetite for tech stocks has significantly weakened in light of rising inflation and strained geopolitical relations among the world’s largest economic powers. GoTo will only have to look at the troubles of Bukalapak (BUKA, IDX), Grab (GRAB, NDAQ), and Sea Group (SE, NYSE) to grasp investor pessimism in the industry. Its Southeast Asian peers have more than halved in market value over the last six months. These trends can be clearly seen among tech firms across the globe. However, with its original IPO plan pushed back due to regulatory hurdles late last year, GoTo is determined to see this one through and bring in some much-needed cash. In this [premium story]( Tech in Asia not only brings GoTo’s rationale behind its IPO to the fore but also clarifies investor concern over its “extravagant” valuation, which would make it Indonesia's fourth most valuable listed company. Image credit: Timmy Loen Staying with super apps, Capital A (CAPITALA, KLSE) has hit a major snag on its mission to become one. The AirAsia parent firm has embarked on a major fundraising push, aiming to collect 2.5 billion ringgit (US$592 million) as it looks to rechristen itself into a tech company. However, negotiations for one of the main sources of funding for the tranche – a 500 million ringgit (US$118 million) club facility backed by state-owned financial insurer Danajamin – broke down. Despite successfully raising 1 billion ringgit through a rights issuance and US$225 million from foreign banks, questions over Capital A’s dreams of super-app stardom remain. My colleague Emmanuel [breaks down]( the options Capital A needs to consider if it wants to plug a Danajamin-shaped funding void and analyzes the issues that come with its tricky pivot into the tech space. The scale of the task on hand for Capital A takes center stage in this [premium story]( which sheds light on the challenges that lay ahead as the company plans to break up Indonesia’s food delivery duopoly through AirAsia Food. -- Shravanth 4 STOCKS TO WATCH Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, activist investor pressure, and more. We feature the stocks that are likely to make big moves during the week. Image credit: Timmy Leon 🇸🇬 Sea Group (SE, NYSE) Shopee, the ecommerce arm of internet giant Sea, has decided to [shut down]( its operations in India. This move follows the country’s ban on Free Fire, the best-selling game from Sea’s digital entertainment unit Garena, in February. The exit will result in the [layoff]( of over 300 staff. It comes as no surprise that Sea would cut its losses from the world’s sixth-largest economy, given the regulatory uncertainty hanging over the firm there. On the upside, news of Shopee's withdrawal from India was welcomed with open arms by the market, with Sea's shares [surging]( as much as 9.7%. 🇻🇳 Vingroup (VIC, HM) VinFast, the electric vehicle unit of Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate Vingroup, plans to initially invest [US$2 billion]( to build an electric vehicle manufacturing plant in North Carolina. Construction should begin this year and is expected to finish by July 2024. The plant’s initial capacity will be 150,000 units per year. The announcement comes ahead of VinFast’s planned IPO in the US that is expected to be launched in the second half of 2022. VinFast could raise as much as US$3 billion from the IPO. 🇯🇵 Nintendo (7974, TYO) The gaming giant was punished in the markets for [pushing back]( the release of the hotly anticipated sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to spring 2023 from this year's planned debut, plunging its shares by 6%. Despite the setback, Nintendo has a strong pipeline for 2022, with shooter game Splatoon 3 due this summer and two further Pokémon titles set to launch later in the year. The company’s shares have excelled this year - having gained over 15% - despite tough market conditions. 🇨🇳 Baidu (BIDU, NDAQ) The search engine giant and its streaming affiliate iQiyi (IQ, NDAQ) were among the latest victims of the US-China accounting tussle last week. The company said it was currently evaluating its [options]( after it was added to the US securities regulator's list of companies facing the risk of being delisted. The US and China remain at loggerheads over Washington’s demands for complete access to the books of US-listed companies. Beijing has so far barred foreign inspections of working papers from local accounting firms, citing national security concerns. However, China are now [reportedly]( preparing to make a rare concession and give US regulators full access to auditing reports of most of the 200-plus Chinese companies listed in New York as soon as mid-this year. 3 MARKET WHISPERS A lot more reliable than whispers, we highlight engaging source-based reporting from reputable news outlets around the globe. 1️⃣ Slamming the brakes In the first signs that growing tensions at SoftBank (9984, TYO) are starting to spill over amid falling tech stocks and a regulatory crackdown in China, its founder, Masayoshi Son, has [told]( his top executives to slow down tech investments. Son’s remarks come as the group responds to the massive hit to its holdings’ value in recent months. According to the Financial Times, Son became alarmed over his personal borrowings against SoftBank shares during the sell-off. SoftBank is now pushing to raise cash and is evaluating assets that could be liquidated. 2️⃣ Facebook turns to the dark arts It was all smooth sailing for Meta Platforms’ (FB, NDAQ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg. His company, which runs Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was among the most valuable in the world - and then TikTok happened. TikTok’s success and Facebook’s subsequent slowdown show that even the mighty get no time to rest in the cutthroat business of social media. Photo credit: 123rf.com Meta is now deploying a rather [sketchy strategy]( to battle ByteDance’s TikTok on its home turf. After its efforts to copy TikTok through Instagram Reels failed to stifle the short-video platform’s growth, Meta hired a political consulting firm to launch a calculated effort against TikTok through a range of media plays. These include highlighting TikTok as a threatening foreign-owned app that collects and shares data on American teens, pushing stories tying TikTok to dangerous teen behavior, and spreading rumors of a “Slap a Teacher TikTok challenge,” which never actually existed on the platform. 3️⃣ A scramble for Toshiba (6502, TYO) Private equity firms are lining up as attempts to take the embattled Japanese conglomerate private are intensifying. Bain Capital appears to be right in front of the queue as it prepares a [bid]( to acquire Toshiba. Furthering Bain Capital’s case is Toshiba’s top shareholder, Singapore-based Effissimo Capital Management, which owns about 9.9% of Toshiba. Effissimo has agreed to [sell]( its stake to Bain if the US private equity firm launches a tender offer. 2 EYE-POPPING FACTS Tech in Asia scours the internet to bring you the head-turning numbers from the world of business. Image credit: Timmy Leon - [US$9 billion]( - This is the amount of IPO fundraising that has stalled due to China’s biggest coronavirus outbreak in two years. Around 15 companies seeking IPOs on Shanghai’s tech-focused Star Market have suspended applications over the past week. To minimize the impact, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has vowed to maintain a steady operation of capital markets during the “special” virus control period. - [33%]( – That is how much M&A activity in Asia Pacific dropped in the first quarter of 2022. Market volatility fueled by a plethora of factors, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising energy costs, and high inflation levels, pushed the brakes on last year's breakneck dealmaking pace. Asia Pacific was the hardest hit region, where total dealmaking for the quarter stood at US$184.2 billion. THE 1 YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING We spotlight the unusual, not-your-everyday kind of story that has got everyone talking and social media buzzing over the past week. Photo credit: 123rf.com Why hack, when you can just receive a hand out Admittedly, a lot slipped under the radar last week. Focus from all corners of the internet has been placed on Will Smith’s on-stage [attack]( of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards and his subsequent Oscar win. For example, did you know the Hubble Space Telescope spotted the most [distant star]( ever seen this past week or that Taiwanese puppeteers are [looking]( to NFTs to keep their traditional art alive in the modern era? Possibly. But have you ever heard of tech behemoths just handing over classified customer data to hackers? Well, that is exactly what happened in the case of Apple (AAPL, NDAQ) and Meta Platforms. In mid-2021, both companies [provided]( basic subscriber details, such as a customer’s address, phone number, and IP address, in response to forged “emergency data requests” from hackers. Hackers affiliated with a cybercrime group known as “Recursion Team” are believed to be behind some of the forged legal requests. Recursion Team is no longer active, but many of its members continue to carry out hacks under different names. That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to our preference center at the bottom of this email. Happy investing and see you next week! Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. 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