JAKARTA • Bukalapak, Indonesia's No. 4 e-commerce firm, is keen to raise as much as US$800 million (S$1.06 billion) in an initial public offering in August, two people with knowledge of the matter said, in what is likely to be the biggest by a start-up in the country.

Tapping a sharp pickup in investor interest in South-east Asia's rapidly expanding technology sector, Bukalapak is aiming to sell 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the company and wants a valuation of between US$4 billion and US$5 billion, they said.

A confidential listing prospectus has been submitted to the Indonesia stock exchange, one of the sources added.

Proceeds from the offering could range between US$500 million and US$800 million, depending on investor demand and market conditions, according to the sources, who declined to be identified.

At the upper end of that target, it would be Indonesia's biggest listing in 10 years.

Bukalapak, which said in 2019 it was valued at more than US$2.5 billion, did not respond to requests for comment.

With a young population of 270 million, South-east Asia's largest economy has one of the fastest-growing online shopping sectors in the world.

Indonesia's e-commerce sector exceeded US$40 billion worth of gross merchandise value last year, according to a report this month by research firm Momentum Works, which estimates that Bukalapak holds a 7 per cent market share.

REUTERS