Shopee Acquires Bank BKE: A Strategy to Surpass GoPay?

The Singapore-based internet company Sea Ltd reportedly acquired PT Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi (BKE). On Thursday (1/14), Bloomberg reported that the holding of the e-commerce company, Shopee, had already become the majority shareholders of Bank BKE after buying shares previously owned by PT Danadipa Artha Indonesia and PT Koin Investama Nusantara.

Based on the shareholder report at the end of last year, PT Danadipa owned 94.95 percent of Bank BKE shares, while PT Koin held 5.05 percent. "The share purchase was carried out by Sea's subsidiary, Turbo Cash Hong Kong Ltd," a Bloomberg source revealed.

However, the D-Insights source mentioned that Sea Ltd has also received the Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) permission to acquire another bank. Sea Ltd can get OJK’s discretion by acquiring two banks, allowing it to have more than 40 percent of bank shares.