Chinese technology giant Alibaba is set to invest over 100 million USD in Indonesia-listed telecommunications operator PT Smartfren Telecom – part of the Sinar Mas Group, reported an article published on the financial news site DealStreetAsia.
Accordingly, with the investment, Alibaba is seen to be deepening its exposure in the Indonesian market by tapping one of the country's biggest conglomerates and its vast ecosystem spanning communications and technology, paper, agribusiness, financial services and infrastructure.
Alibaba's proposed investment in the Sinar Mas ecosystem follows the latter's recent entry as a shareholder into fintech player Dana -- a joint venture between Indonesian conglomerate Emtek and Alibaba's Ant Financial.
It is expected that Smartfren and Alibaba will soon announce the agreement.
Smartfren swung to profit in the first three months of 2022 on the back of higher revenue. It recorded profits of 24.98 billion Rp (1.7 million USD) between January and March, compared to losses of 396.83 billion Rp in the same period last year.
Alibaba already has a presence in Indonesia via PT Akulaku Silvrr Indonesia, part of the e-commerce and digital finance Akulaku Group. Akulaku controls 25.66% of Indonesian digital lender Bank Neo Commerce.