Taxi Operator Blue Bird Expected to Conduct IPO in November 2013
Blue Bird, the biggest taxi operator of Indonesia, aims to raise IDR 5 trillion (USD $450 million) through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, which is expected to be conducted in November 2013. This would make it the largest Indonesian IPO since food producer Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur raised USD $696 million in 2010. Blue Bird allegedly appointed Credit Suisse, UBS and Danareksa Sekuritas to act as underwriters. It has been speculated that the company will sell 20 to 40 percent of its stock equity.
Blue Bird is clear market leader within Indonesia's taxi services market, in which dozens of private companies participate. To date, only one Indonesian taxi company has gone public on the Indonesia Stock Exchange - Express Transindo Utama -, which is Blue Bird's main competitor for market leadership. Of all Indonesian taxi companies, Blue Bird is known to be most reliable and therefore is usually the preferred choice for both Indonesians and foreigners when needing transport by taxi. Knowing that the IPO of Express Transindo was successful and seeing its share price rise by 154 percent since its first trading day in November 2012, it is expected that the public listing of Blue Bird will be equally popular.
Despite the fact that a lack of public investments in Indonesia's infrastructure has caused chaotic conditions (traffic congestions) in some parts of the bigger Indonesian cities, Indonesia's taxi sector offers plenty of growth opportunities. The country contains a large population (over 240 million) that is becoming increasingly urbanized (more than half of the population currently lives in urban areas). Moreover, Indonesia shows strong macroeconomic growth, which gives rise to an expanding middle class (as GDP per capita is rising). Lastly, a lack of investments in public transportation makes taxis a more attractive alternative.
Blue Bird will use funds from the IPO for expansion and rejuvenation of its taxi fleet. The company also wants to start operations in various cities on Sumatra such as Pekanbaru, Padang, Palembang and Medan.