Richard Li bets big on Indonesia as GoTo debuts

Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li Tzar-kai has a US$900 million (HK$7 billion) stake in GoTo Group, Indonesia's largest tech company, which will start trading today.

Tokopedia, the online-shopping startup that merged with ride-hailing company Gojek to create GoTo, is one of Li's first major bets in Southeast Asia, a region he's been targeting to diversify his empire.

GoTo has raised as much as US$1.1 billion in one of the world's largest initial public offerings this year and would become the fourth-most-valuable company listed on the Indonesia stock exchange.

By backing GoTo, Li joined investors including Softbank's Vision Fund, Taobao China owned by Alibaba (9988) and Sequoia Capital India.

He is getting one of the biggest individual windfalls from the listing: his stake will be worth more than those of the company's chief executive officer or its co-founders, Bloomberg calculations show, based on the IPO prospectus.

Li, whose fortune is mostly based on Hong Kong assets, has been increasing his investments in Southeast Asia in recent years.

In 2019, his Hong Kong insurer, FWD Group, bought a Thai peer for US$3 billion and set up a 15-year life insurance distribution agreement with Vietnam's largest lender.

The following year, he agreed to acquire a 30 percent minority stake in PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia's life insurer. The firm is now vying for one of the most exciting Hong Kong listings this year.

Richard Li is the son of business tycoon Li Ka-shing, and the chairman of PCCW (0008).