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ByteDance\u2019s TikTok will take a 75.01% controlling stake in a joint venture entity formed in partnership with GoTo\u2019s e-commerce unit Tokopedia, the two tech firms announced on Monday. <\/span><\/p>\n TikTok will invest $1.5 billion in the combined entity over time \u201cto provide future funding required by the business, without any additional dilution to GoTo\u2019s 24.99% stake,\u201d the companies said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As part of the transaction, Tokopedia will first acquire TikTok Shop\u2019s Indonesia business for $340 million in the fourth quarter of this year, according to GoTo\u2019s investor note. TikTok will then acquire the majority stake in the entity. The overall transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The strategic partnership deal will allow TikTok to run its online shopping features again via TikTok\u2019s social media app in Indonesia. The development comes roughly two months after <\/span>Jakarta banned direct payments for online purchases on social media platforms<\/span><\/a> to protect smaller local merchants and users\u2019 data. TikTok <\/span>suspended its e-commerce service<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 4 October to comply with the new rule in the country, which was one of the promising e-commerce markets for the Chinese tech firm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The ByteDance-owned short video app launched TikTok Shop Indonesia in 2021 and had around <\/span>106 million users in Indonesia as of October<\/span><\/a>, which came in second after the U.S. <\/span>Indonesia is the third biggest market in Asia, only behind China and India<\/span><\/a> in terms of the number of active social media users at 167 million, <\/span>with 60.4% of the total population<\/span><\/a> using these platforms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGoing forward, TikTok, Tokopedia and GoTo will transform Indonesia\u2019s e-commerce sector, creating millions of new job opportunities over the next five years,\u201d the two companies said in a joint statement. \u201cMore than 90 percent of the combined business\u2019s merchants are MSMEs and the companies will undertake a series of joint initiatives to support them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n