GoTo sets the tone for IPOs as debut pushes valuation past US$30 billion

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} I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and confess: I did not expect GoTo Group’s (GOTO, IDX) public listing last week to be quite as successful. Current market conditions for IPOs appear to be tough, affected by macro factors including rising inflation levels, looming interest rate hikes, supply chain bottlenecks, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Given these challenges, swathes of high-profile startups are putting their public market debuts on hold. India-based Oyo, Delihivery, and PharmEasy have either delayed their IPOs or are readjusting their valuations, while FinAccel, the parent firm of Indonesia’s Kredivo, has [dropped]( its listing plans altogether. No one can really blame them for taking the cautious route. One would only have to do a quick scan of the stock performances of Grab (GRAB, NDAQ), One 97 Communications (PAYTM, NSE), and Zomato (ZOMATO, NSE) to understand why startups want to remain private under the current circumstances. While there were plenty of reasons to avoid an IPO, GoTo only needed one to pursue it: refilling its cash coffers. Although its original plan to list in 2021 was pushed back due to regulatory hurdles, the company will be glad to have seen this one through. GoTo’s shares [rose]( by as much as 23% on opening day and ended the week around 10% above its IPO price, giving it a valuation of over US$30 billion. For context, rival Grab’s valuation has plunged to less than US$12 billion since its market debut in December 2021. Grab listed on the Nasdaq through a [SPAC deal]( which had valued the super app at roughly [US$40 billion](. Image credit: Timmy Leon In a bid to revive its dwindling share price, Grab is now competing with major Japanese banks for the Southeast Asian assets of Home Credit, a Netherlands-based consumer finance firm. My colleague Miguel breaks down why Grab is doubling down its focus on financial services to reverse its fortunes in [this premium story](. The draw of the financial services sector becomes even more evident upon analyzing Bukalapak’s (BUKA, IDX) fourth quarter [results](. The Indonesian ecommerce giant’s revenue jumped 29% in the Q4 2021, following an acceleration in its Mitra Bukalapak business. Four years ago, the SME-focused unit brought in US$1 million in net revenue, but it earned US$56.9 million in net revenue last year alone. See also: [Bukalapak’s financial performance in 8 charts]( After a woeful start in the stock market, Bukalapak’s shares are finally on the rise, gaining around 34% in the last month. Perhaps investors are slowly waking up to the potential of ecommerce businesses in Southeast Asia. It’s clear that China’s ByteDance, the parent firm of short-video app TikTok, has been keeping a watchful eye. As TikTok Shop launches in Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia following a pilot in Indonesia, my colleague Huong sizes up the new feature’s chances of success in the region and why it poses a significant threat to the dominance of Sea Group’s (SE, NYSE) Shopee and Alibaba’s (BABA, NYSE) Lazada in [this premium piece](. -- 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. Photo credit: Meituan-Dianping 🇨🇳 Meituan (3690, HKG) The food delivery giant joins Alibaba and Tencent (0700, HKG) in laying off thousands of employees this year. Meituan is set to [dismiss 20%]( of workers in its grocery delivery and food distribution units, making them the worst-hit segments amid wide-scale job cuts at the firm. Employees in its main food delivery and hotel-booking units will also be let go. The layoffs at Meituan are part of a recent wave of job cuts across China’s tech sector amid regulatory scrutiny on internet firms and a pandemic-induced slowdown in business. 🇮🇩 Bank Bumi Arta (BNBA, IDX) The publicly listed bank recently [welcomed]( its new single largest shareholder: Ajaib. The Indonesia-based investment app spent roughly US$104.2 million to increase its ownership in Bank Bumi Arta from 24% to 40%. Meanwhile, Bank Bumi Arta’s share price has surged by over 80% in the last six months. 🇮🇳 Infosys (INFY, NSE) In a double whammy to India's second-largest IT services company, its [Q4 earnings growth]( was lower than expected, and its sales forecast for fiscal year 2023 fell below analyst estimates. These numbers were the latest sign of slowing demand for software and IT services as companies have started to move away from work-from-home arrangements. Infosys’ shares lost a little over 3% in value after posting its results. 🇹🇼 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (2330, TPE) The world's largest contract chipmaker [forecasted]( an up to 37% jump in current-quarter sales despite a global crunch that has kept order books full and allowed chipmakers to charge premium prices. However, TSMC said it expects chip capacity to remain very tight this year. Shares of TSMC have dipped by nearly 11% so far this year, but the company still maintains a massive market value of around half a trillion dollars. 3 MARKET WHISPERS A lot more reliable than whispers, we highlight engaging source-based reporting from reputable news outlets around the globe. Photo credit: bigtunaonline / 123RF 1️⃣ Digital yuan culture begins to take shape Tencent’s WeChat is [conducting]( tests for a mini program that allows for payments in digital yuan or e-CNY. With the Tencent e-CNY Wallet, people can do transactions using the digital currency through QR codes on WeChat. They will also get to transfer funds, collect payments, and access credit card functions through the program. 2️⃣ Are you ready to rumble? Meta Platforms’ (FB, NDAQ) WhatsApp has [won]( regulatory approval to more than double the number of users of its payments service in India - its biggest market - to 100 million. Though approval will come as a boost, the new cap could still limit WhatsApp's growth prospects, given that it has more than 500 million users in India. WhatsApp competes with Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL, NDAQ) Google Pay and Walmart’s (WMT, NYSE) PhonePe as well as SoftBank-financed and Ant Group-backed Paytm in India's crowded digital market. 3️⃣ Brave enough for a dual listing Chinese Q and A website Zhihu Inc. [priced]( its Hong Kong listing at HK$32.06 each to raise HK$833 million (US$106.25 million). The Quora-like platform sold 26 million shares in its dual primary listing. Zhihu listed in New York in March 2021. The deal comes as an increasing number of US-listed Chinese firms also list in Hong Kong, driven by the continuing regulatory standoff between Beijing and Washington over US auditors’ access to Chinese companies’ accounts. 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 - 150 million - This is the number of users currently onboarded to Google Classroom, one of the most-used edtech apps in Southeast Asia. This figure becomes even more impressive when we consider that the app had about 40 million users in 2020. In [this premium story]( Tech in Asia breaks down how the tech behemoth got an iron grip on Indonesia’s edtech space. - [US$580 million]( – This is the value of the publicly listed entity formed from the merger of 8i Acquisition 2, a Nasdaq-listed blank-check firm, and Euda, a Singapore-based healthtech company. The deal, which will close in the fourth quarter of the year, will see 8i Acquisition 2 taking Euda’s name and trading under the “EUDA” ticker. 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. Image credit: Timmy Loen FOMO in the NFT space is real It has been hard to take your eyes off the Elon Musk-Twitter (TWTR, NYSE) saga. After becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder, Musk rejected a board seat and then proceeded to offer nearly US$43 billion to [buy]( the social media firm as he aspires to build an “arena for free speech.” However, there has been another trend brewing in the shadows. Yes, demand for non-fungible tokens is cooling, but that hasn’t stopped companies from diving head-first into the space. How about a test drive and a small fee for access to a [car-themed NFT]( Chinese electric-vehicle giant Xpeng (XPEV, NYSE) would certainly think it’s worth the value. Line took things a step further with its own NFT marketplace. The Japan-based messaging app [launched]( Line NFT last week. Surprisingly, even the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to grab a slice of the pie. People’s Daily, the official publication of the CCP, is planning to [make NFTs]( featuring traditional and modern Chinese paintings. The development comes months after People’s Daily launched its own NFT marketplace, with free tokens up for grabs. 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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