Indonesia’s PT Merdeka Gold Resources Tbk is targeting to raise up to 4.88 trillion rupiah ($300 million) from a local IPO this month, which could be the biggest initial share sale so far this year in the country.
According to filings with the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX), Merdeka Gold, which mines and processes the precious metal in the archipelago, will offer 1.61 billion new shares in the IPO, representing 10% of its total paid-up capital.
The shares will be priced between 1,800 and 3,020 rupiah apiece.
The book-building period is scheduled for September 8-10, 2025, followed by the public offering from September 17-19, 2025. The company’s shares will start trading on the IDX under the ticker EMAS on September 23, 2025.
PT Indo Premier Sekuritas, PT Trimegah Sekuritas Indonesia Tbk, and PT Sinarmas Sekuritas have been appointed as the underwriters in the IPO.
Bisman Baktiar, executive director at PUSHEP (Center for Energy and Mining Law Studies) said Merdeka Gold’s IPO is attractive because market sentiment toward the yellow metal is currently positive, with favourable prices and strong investment appetite.
Gold price this year ($ per gram)
Baktiar was quick to warn that the size of Merdeka Gold’s IPO is considerable, and raising almost 5 trillion rupiah will be a challenge. “Based on the number of shares offered, even at the upper end of the price range, the proceeds would likely reach only around 4.5 trillion rupiah,” he told DealStreetAsia.
Merdeka Gold, formerly known as PT Pani Bersama Jaya, was established in 2015 and operates a gold processing plant along with other mineral ventures.
Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk owns 69.66% of the company. The remaining shares are held by several Indonesian entrepreneurs, including Winato Kartono with a 10.31% stake and Garibaldi Thohir with a 6.9% stake.
Following the IPO, Merdeka Copper Gold’s ownership is expected to fall to 62.01%, while Winato Kartono’s and Garibaldi Thohir’s stakes will decrease to 9.18% and 6.14%, respectively.
Merdeka Gold owns nearly 100% of the Pani Gold Project in Gorontalo, which is located on the Northern Sulawesi island of Indonesia. The project boasts substantial gold resources of 7 million ounces and reserves of 1.9 million ounces, with operations expected to continue until 2041.
The mine is planned to process up to 19 million tonnes of ore annually, with peak gold production projected to reach 500,000 ounces in 2033, positioning it as one of the largest gold mines in Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific region.
The heap leach processing facility is scheduled to commence operations in December 2025, followed by phased operations of the Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) facility starting in 2029. As of June 2025, infrastructure development is approximately 50-67% complete.
Merdeka Copper Gold is prohibited by regulation from selling its stakes in Merdeka Gold Resources within eight months after listing.
The company plans to allocate the IPO proceeds to its subsidiaries and to repay debt owed to Merdeka Copper Gold.
Oktavianus Audi, vice president of Kiwoom Sekuritas Indonesia, said Merdeka Gold’s IPO target is reasonable, despite its premium valuation, assuming gold prices stay above $2,600 per troy ounce and the company’s Pani Project achieves its production targets.
Merdeka Gold, despite holding sizable reserves of the metal, faces challenges, including its reliance on debt, potential conflicts of interest with its controlling shareholder, Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk, and a history of posting losses. These make the valuation highly dependent on the company’s future prospects.
In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the company posted a net loss of $9.21 million, widening from $4.17 million in the same period last year. Revenue came in at $539,000 in Q1 2024, but the company recorded no revenue in Q1 2025.
Total assets fell to $25.4 million in Q1 2025, down from $71.4 million a year earlier, while liabilities rose to $280 million from $256 million over the same period.
The IDX has hosted fewer initial public offerings (IPOs) this year compared to 2024—but the listings are raising significantly more capital.
Thanks to a string of large initial share sales—from conglomerates, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and regionally-owned businesses—IPO fundraising on the IDX in 2025 looks poised to surpass the 14.3 trillion rupiah raised in the entire 2024.
As of September 4, 2025, 22 companies had gone public on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), raising a combined 10.39 trillion rupiah. Another 10 companies are in the pipeline, consisting of six with total assets between 50 billion and 250 billion rupiah and four with assets below 50 billion rupiah.
Among the notable listings this year are PT Chandra Daya Investasi (CDIA), which raised around 2.4 trillion rupiah in July: PT Bangun Kosambi Sukses (CBDK), which secured about 2.3 trillion rupiah in January; and PT Raharja Energi Cepu (RATU), which raised roughly 624 billion rupiah earlier in the year.
