Lawmakers Praise Telkomsel's Investment in GoTo

TheIndonesia.id - The House of Representatives (DPR) assessed that Telkomsel’s investment in GoTo has the potential to advance the telecommunications industry as well as to develop Telkom Indonesia Group's business portfolio. Member of Commission VI of the DPR Harris Turino remarked that the investment was made not only to obtain short-term capital gains but to also create synergies between Telkomsel and GoTo in the future.

“This investment is solely for the development of a business portfolio that is currently facing stagnant growth in the core telecommunications industry,” Turino stated in Jakarta, Tuesday, June 14, 2022.

Telkomsel bought GoTo’s shares at Rp270 per share, with a total investment of Rp6.4 trillion. Telkomsel purchased the shares at a lower price as compared to GoTo’s IPO price of Rp338 per share.

“The number of shares owned is 23.7 million. If you look at the current price of GoTo’s shares, Telkom has actually made an unrealized profit of Rp 2.8 trillion from this investment,” Turino pointed out.

He revealed that Telkomsel had enjoyed a synergy value of Rp437.8 billion in 2021 and Rp153.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022 from the investment in GoTo.

Meanwhile, Telkomsel President Director Hendri Mulya Syam highlighted the stages of the investment process in GoTo, including the benefits derived from the investment.

“We have explained in detail to Commission VI of the DPR regarding every decision-making process as well as the basis for Telkomsel’s corporate action that decided to invest in GoTo,” Syam stated.

Syam praised the DPR for offering the opportunity to provide a comprehensive explanation during the State-Owned Enterprise Investment Working Committee meeting held on Tuesday (June 14) at the DPR Building.

He affirmed that Telkomsel’s investment in GoTo was purely a professional decision in accordance with good corporate governance (GCG) and referring to the applicable business rules.

The evaluation and approval process for an investment worth US$450 million in Gojek was conducted thoroughly by involving independent financial and legal advisors.

At the time of the investment approval on November 16, 2020, there was no involvement of Telkom's commissioners. The investment decision is only up to Telkom and Singtel's final approval at the Telkomsel board of commissioners' meeting.

"Telkomsel's investment in GoTo is aimed more at generating a positive synergic value to create and strengthen the national digital ecosystem," he concluded.