[Updated] China's Alibaba said to invest over $100m in Sinar Mas Group's Smartfren Telecom

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include Smartfren’s filing with the Indonesia stock exchange on July 28 that confirms a stake sale worth $100 million in the telecom firm. The IDX filing, however, does not mention the buyer of the stake. DealStreetAsia first broke the development on July 26.

Chinese technology giant Alibaba is set to invest in Indonesia-listed telecom operator PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk, part of the Sinar Mas Group, in a deal that could be worth over $100 million, sources told DealStreetAsia.

In its IDX filing on Thursday, Smartfren director Anthony Susilo confirmed that one of the shareholders has sold their interest in the firm to a third party. “The company seeks collaborations with local and global players to support our core business and beyond telco (5G and others),” he said in a statement.

PT Dian Swastatika Sentosa (DSSA), a part of the Sinar Mas Group, has sold 6% of its stake in Smartfren for 1.5 trillion rupiah or over $100 million. Before the transaction, DSSA held a 23% stake in the telecom firm. DSSA is engaged in the business of mining, technology and power generation within the group.

In February 2022, a unit of DSSA signed an agreement to invest around $200 million in e-wallet DANA, which is backed by Ant Group.