KFit Holdings Pte Ltd (KFit) recently signed a deal to acquire Groupon Indonesia at an undisclosed fee. The acquisition will see KFit enter the Indonesian market with Groupon Indonesia as a wholly-owned subsidiary of KFit, while Groupon Inc will become a strategic shareholder of KFit.
Groupon Indonesia is an established leader in local commerce with over 1 million subscribers and over 15,000 local merchants. It is among the most visited e-commerce websites in the country.
“Indonesia represents an untapped opportunity for us and serves as a natural expansion of our regional footprint in Southeast Asia. The combination of Groupon Indonesia’s established presence and KFit’s experience in building a mobile-first platform will propel us in a high-growth local commerce market, further accelerated by increasing mobile penetration” said Joel Neoh, Founder and CEO of KFit.
“Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation is expected to become the next breakout market for e-commerce after China and India. It’s current GDP per capita is similar to China’s in 2009, according to Alibaba.”
“While KFit will continue to focus on health and fitness services, this presents a strategic direction for us to enhance and broaden our offerings. In the long run, this acquisition will provide us with a strong platform for growth in Southeast Asia,” added Neoh.
The transaction is expected to be completed in Q3 2016. KFit has confirmed that there will be no immediate changes to the business.
How KFit is evolving
KFit’s strategic imperative is to offer more services to cater to a broader base of consumers on a hyper-local level. Since its debut as a fitness sharing platform in April 2015, KFit has extended its offerings to include beauty and wellness categories, and launched its pay-per-use offering, KFit Go. In the past six months, KFit users have reserved over 400,000 activities. Today, one reservation is made every minute on the KFit platform.
“Our goal is to transform the way people experience much more than just fitness, which is why this acquisition is significant. We are going to build on Groupon Indonesia’s strong foundation and grow it further based on our experience and expertise,” said Neoh.
“We believe that the KFit team is well-positioned to take the Indonesian business to even greater heights, as Joel has been a formidable leader for Groupon in Asia Pacific in the past. We look forward to seeing the company grow and are excited to become a strategic shareholder of KFit,” said Michel Piestun, president of APAC at Groupon.
