Indonesia’s IATA to Acquire Ride-Hailing Firm Anterin

Indonesia Transport & Infrastructure (IATA), which is an affiliate of local conglomerate MNC, has announced plans to acquire a majority stake in Anterin Digital Nusantara, a homegrown ride-hailing company, for an undisclosed amount.

In a disclosure to the Indonesia Stock Exchange, IATA said it has already signed a binding term sheet to acquire Anterin, which has more than 300,000 registered drivers, 530,000 customers, and operations in 51 cities across Indonesia.

Anterin started as a logistics company in 2016 and ventured into a ride-hailing after a year. It plans to venture beyond ride-hailing and into the taxi service business, food delivery, shuttle, rental, and helicopter taxi service.

IATA said it wants to acquire the ride-hailing firm because of its vision. IATA vice president and director Wishnu Handoyono said in a statement that Anterin was created “to make changes in current ride-hailing operation.”

The company said Anterin does not charge drivers a commission on each transaction but offers a monthly subscription system, unlike most ride-hailing companies.

Anterin is currently offering a marketplace for a city transporting network using an auction system that allows customers to determine the reasonable price, specific vehicle, and favorite driver.

“Indonesia’s on-demand business competition is still dominated by two big players, Go-Jek and Grab. Anterin is pursuing to be a ‘challenger’ and suppose to offer a new, different, better option for customers or drivers if compared to the existing dominant players,” Rachmat Efendi, Anterin’s Co-Founder, earlier told DailySocial.

IATA targets to close the acquisition by the of February. The transaction, however, is still subject to due diligence.

The acquisition will give IATA access to Indonesia’s bustling ride-hailing market, which his dominated by Southeast Asian giant Grab and local unicorn Gojek. IATA is an aircraft charter provider that caters to firms in the offshore and onshore gas and mining industries in Indonesia and some parts of Southeast Asia.