On Friday, October 8, 2021, a guest lecture was held on the topic "Supervision of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Digital Economy Sector in Indonesia: Challenges and Future Platforms" with the presence of the Chairman of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Kodrat Wibowo, SE, Ph.D. The event, which was held online via Zoom, was moderated by Dr. Nurul Istifadah, SE, M.Si, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga.
In his presentation, the KPPU chairman began his presentation with a discussion of Indonesia's political history, which has historically limited the opportunities for successful entrepreneurs due to widespread corruption and nepotism. He believes that business opportunities are now widely available to everyone, thus offering ample opportunities for success. He also outlined the background to the establishment of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU), its legal basis, and its role and objectives.
Furthermore, he stated that one type of business experiencing growth is the digital sector, dominated by millennials. This digital sector presents unique challenges for competitive dynamics, particularly regarding mergers and acquisitions within digital businesses.
Furthermore, he gave a recent example of how mergers and acquisitions occur in the digital sector, namely when Grab acquired Uber in Indonesia and also in several other countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore. While Grab was fined for these acquisitions in other countries, this did not occur in Indonesia. This is based on the regulations of Law No. 5 of 1999, articles 28 and 29, which are no longer relevant. To address this, the KPPU issued Regulation of the Commission on Public Procurement (PerKPPU) No. 3 of 2019, where the regulations are aligned with the Ministerial Regulation (Permen). The essence of the Regulation of the Commission on Public Procurement (PerKPPU) is that takeovers are not only limited to share transfers, but also other instruments with similar characteristics to shares that can result in changes in control of a Business Entity, which must be reported to the KPPU.
Furthermore, the speaker also discussed derivative regulations related to the purchase of company assets that could threaten the level of business competition in the digital sector.
The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session. Participants raised many questions regarding acquisitions and mergers in the digital sector.
The complete recording of the guest lecture can be seen at the following link: