Cashlez Officially IPO, Creating Opportunities for Other Acquisitions

The payment gateway and mPOS startup, Cashlez, officially going IPO at the Indonesia Stock Exchange yesterday (4/5) using "CASH" as the stock code. Cashlez is listed on the acceleration board, as well as being the 27th company to be trading on the stock exchange this year.

The company releases 250 million new shares at Rp 350 per share. This capital amount covers around 17.5 percent of the agreed capital and is placed in Cashlez. Simultaneously, the company issued Series I Warrants at a ratio of 1: 1.

Cashlez' President Director, Tee Teddy Setiawan said the company successfully obtained funding worth of Rp87.5 billion on this occasion. As planned, 61.31% of the funds were used for the acquisition of PT Softorb Technology Indonesia (STI), with the remaining 38.69% for working capital.

"Through this IPO, we can continue to innovate in developing business and one of them is the acquisition of STI which we consider is very strategic for our business growth," he said in an official statement.

As quoted from his interview with IDX Channel, Teddy mentioned, besides the acquisition of STI, he also offers opportunities to take other corporate actions. "We are still looking for opportunities for the acquisition of similar companies to support inorganic growth."

He continued, the due diligence process for the STI acquisition had begun since last year. The two sides started open discussions for future business synergies, given the huge potential of the payment system industry in Indonesia.

Entering the second half of last year, the company starts taking an option to IPO on the stock exchange, moreover, the company also participated in IDX Incubator. "We are encouraged to take the IPO initiative, especially with the current new board [acceleration board], we finally decided to take on the exchange."

Fundamentally, STI has a strong and stable business base, compared to Cashlez as a startup. STI focuses on the front end, while Cashlez focuses on the back end. They need a front-end that can create innovation, for example by combining sensors with non-cash payment instruments such as cards.

"We are starting to enter the [payment] segment of transportation, prepaid cards, parking, and theme parks," he continued.

To date, Cashlez is said to cover more than 7,300 merchants consisting of small, medium, to enterprises. However, 88% of them are dominated by SMEs.

Adjustment to the target

Even though the funds will be used in accordance with the original plan, the nominal funds targeted by Cashlez has adjusted. Previously, the company was targeting Rp90 billion to Rp100 billion by releasing 300 million shares of regular stock. The offer price is at Rp298-Rp358 per share. The date of the listing on the IDX was planned for April 20, 2020.

Teddy revealed that the adjustment occurred because of structural changes. Earlier this year, they began with unfavorable issue from Jiwasraya, then the Covid-19 pandemic emerged in March. Finally, it must've had an impact on several prospective investors and their commitment to enter, eventually changing their minds.

"However, since everything is back to normal, this is good timing to start fresh."

In addition, regarding the company's target this year, Teddy said he has yet made a revision. However, he currently opens for the possibility that a correction would occur in the second quarter of this year. the Cashlez business as a whole is targeted to increase by 2.5 to 3 times from last year.

"In March 2020 we still have our positive performance. The Covid-19 has affected on our business, related to PSBB, it is practically all business down almost 80%. We have to be more creative in catering to online transactions. "

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian