JULY 2019 FORBES INDONESIA | 45“I never
thought Bali
United share
price would
go way far
beyond Rp175
per share,
because our
first plan was
only raising
Rp300 billion,”“We started our sports agency last year, as
we see numerous sponsors are keen to support
football clubs in Indonesia, but very limited
agency have this kind of expertise: to handle
athletes and its clubs,” says Yabes.
Bali Bintang Sejahtera is also exploring
to new ventures. Early this year, the compa-
ny also entered the esport business by aquir-
ing local esport team, Island of Gods (IOG),
making it the first football firm who also
manages esport club. IOG is active in es-
ports competitions like FIFA, PUBG Mobile,
Free Fire and Mobile
Legends Bang Bang.
“We acquire this
team as we realize it
could help us to get
more fans, particu-
larly the millenials,”
says Yabes.
Through the IPO,
Bali Bintang Se-
jahtera successfully
raised Rp 350 billion
of fresh fund after is-
suing two billion of
shares (equivalent
to 33% of its paid up
capital). The com-
pany plans to use
19% of the funds for
capital expenditure
(capex) to upgrade the team stadium, the I
Wayan Dipta Stadium in Gianyar. About 60%
of the funds are designated for working capi-
tal, while the remaining 20% will be used
for its subsidiaries, which includes PT Radio
Swara Bukit Bali Indah (a private broadcast
radio), PT Bali Boga Sejahtera (café and res-
taurant management), PT IOG Indonesia Se-
jahtera, and PT Kreasi Karya Bangsa. It also
has an established football academy, to de-
velop young talent, and a merchandise store,
the largest of its kind in the country.
Listing on the stock exchange is relatively
common in Europe. International clubs such
as AS Roma, Juventus, Manchester United,
Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, and Arsenal have
their shares listed in stock exhcange. Despite
being the first one in the country, Yabes is
upbeat on how stock could put a show in the
stock market given the company’s diversified
business interests along with its success in the
country’s premiere Liga 1 championship.
This year, Bali United expects its revenue
to reach Rp159.5 billion, up 69.7% year-on-
year, driven mainly by the club’s sponsorship
and its sports agency business. Bali United
managed to grow more sponsorship after the
club joined the Asian Football Confedera-
tion and finished as runner-up in Liga 1 – the
country’s top-tier professional league in 2017.
In the 2018 season, Bali United finished at 11th
place in the league 1. Yet, the company pro-jected a very conservative operating profit of
Rp 10 billion this year, just shy from last year’s
Rp 9.24 billion.
Although there’s an opportunity, the
country’s football industry is challenging.
Football is a widely popular sport in Indo-
nesia. While some local clubs have a huge
fan bases, the country’s leagues have been
tarnished by match-fixing claims as well as
violence between rival supporters. Indone-
sia was barred from international football in
2015 due to government meddling in their
domestic league, shutting them out of quali-
fication for the 2018 World Cup and 2019
Asian Cup. The ban was lifted in 2016. Mak-
ing sports team go public could be one of the
keys to sort the issues.
“We hope that this IPO will increase the
overall transparency between investors, man-
agement, and the fans,” says Yabes. F17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28400300200BALI BINTANG SEJAHTERA
STOCK PRICESOURCE: BLOOMBERGOPEN
370LOW
175.0HIHG
422.0JUNE 2019