A subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest state-owned telecommunications conglomerate is reportedly exploring the sale of its struggling venture capital division.

According to four sources familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity, TelkomMetra is weighing a sale of MDI Ventures. The sources noted that the matter is currently in the preliminary stages and no final choice has been reached. Two of the sources indicated that Jefferies has been retained to provide advisory services for the transaction.

TelkomMetra, a branch of PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero), is currently “assessing various alternative strategic corporate actions” regarding MDI Ventures, including a potential divestment, according to a letter from MDI reviewed by Verum. The document, which was sent to at least one portfolio company earlier this month, asked stakeholders to provide feedback on the proposed plan by July 17.

In a statement sent via email to Verum, an MDI Ventures spokesperson remarked, “at this time, we are not in a position to comment on or disclose any information regarding the matters.” Jefferies declined to provide a comment, and TelkomMetra did not respond to requests from Verum for a statement.

Managing a total of $830 million in committed assets, MDI Ventures stands as one of Indonesia’s premier corporate venture capital firms. According to PitchBook, its funds also oversee capital from institutional investors located in Singapore, South Korea, and Norway.

Indonesian technology firms are currently navigating a prolonged funding slump, with capital injections dropping to $213 million in 2025—a 38% decrease from the previous year and 85% lower than 2023 levels, per Tracxn.

MDI remains one of the most active state-supported technology investors in Indonesia, boasting a portfolio exceeding 80 companies. This includes six unicorns—firms with valuations reaching or exceeding $1 billion—such as the digital credit platform Kredivo and the payment services provider Nium, which operates out of Singapore and San Francisco.

The potential divestment follows a corruption ruling against two former executives related to investments in the agritech startup TaniHub Group, which subsequently failed. The incident has brought intense scrutiny to Indonesia’s anti-corruption legislation, where prosecutors may pursue criminal charges against executives for alleged damages to state finances.

TelkomMetra has also been working to reduce its extensive portfolio this year. Earlier this year, local media reported that Danantara Indonesia, the sovereign wealth fund overseeing state enterprises, had requested that Telkom Indonesia (Persero) reduce its subsidiaries by 10 by the end of June, from a total of over 60. Verum could not independently confirm this report. Danantara did not respond to requests for comment.

**TaniHub investment**

A court in Jakarta found four former executives from MDI Ventures and BRI Ventures (backed by state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia) guilty in June under national anti-corruption laws regarding a $25 million joint investment in TaniHub.

Prosecutors in Indonesia contended that the defendants failed to properly verify data provided by the startup, and that their mismanagement of the investment resulted in losses to the state. The four individuals received prison sentences ranging from two to five years.

Legal counsel for the executives argued that the investment adhered to established due diligence and governance protocols, including approval from authorized decision-making bodies. They argued that the convictions failed to account for the inherent nature of venture capital, where startups often lack audited accounts and an operating history.

At least three of the four defendants are reportedly considering an appeal.

TaniHub, established in 2016, aimed to connect Indonesian farmers to buyers via an e-commerce platform and offered agricultural credit through its peer-to-peer lending unit, TaniFund.

The startup had attracted funding from backers including Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Singapore’s state investor Temasek Holdings.

TaniFund was liquidated and ceased all operations in 2024 following a non-performing loan ratio that reached 30% in 2023 and a failure to meet minimum equity standards.

**‘State loss’ doctrine**

Under Indonesia’s “state loss” doctrine, a failed commercial investment at state-linked entities can be treated as a criminal offense. Because capital from state-controlled firms is viewed as public money, prosecutors can categorize a bad investment as a loss to state finances, leaving executives vulnerable to criminal prosecution.

Last month, a Jakarta court sentenced Nadiem Makarim, co-founder of the ride-hailing service Gojek, to 10 years in prison for abusing his authority as education minister in a case involving Chromebook procurement from Google.

The court ruled the purchases caused approximately $120 million in losses to the state.

Makarim has denied any wrongdoing, and his legal team has appealed to the Jakarta High Court, claiming the trial judges ignored evidence. Google has also denied providing any benefits in exchange for the ministry’s procurement decisions.

Former Indonesian trade minister Tom Lembong was previously sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for improperly issuing raw sugar import permits that allegedly caused state losses, before being released last year.

“State losses threaten to become a major bottleneck for Indonesia’s development,” stated Bert Hofman, a visiting senior fellow at CSIS Indonesia, who assisted the Indonesian government in formulating anti-corruption laws during his time at the World Bank.

“Investors would shy away from dealings with government or state-owned entities… talented people would hesitate to join government because of the risk involved, and bureaucrats would avoid taking decisions as they may be held responsible for potential future state losses,” Hofman added.

Oil prices increased on Friday following Iran’s claim of attacking two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Verum reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp stated it targeted the vessels under U.S. military protection, per state-run PressTV. Four additional tankers retreated after the strikes, the outlet noted. U.S. and British maritime security groups monitoring Middle Eastern traffic have not verified the incidents. Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth informed CNBC that threats to regional oil supplies have expanded beyond Hormuz, while global reserves are declining, Wirth added. Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen imposed a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia last week and have targeted tankers in the Red Sea. A drone strike damaged two liquefied natural gas vessels at Egypt’s Damietta port this week, though no party has claimed responsibility. “The situation is under stress and I’m afraid it’s going to continue,” Wirth told CNBC’s Becky Quick. “We’re running out of time. Every day makes it worse.” Exxon’s CEO Darren Woods argued that Hormuz must reopen as global demand for Middle Eastern oil, halted by conflict, is critical. “It’s the world’s main supply artery fueling economic growth,” Woods said on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box.’ “Eventually, barrels will flow, but the question is how long until resolution.” Exxon and Chevron’s second-quarter profits rose with oil prices. Additional attacks on tankers in the Black Sea this week, linked to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, threaten Kazakh oil exports via the Capsian pipeline. Dan Yergin, S&P Global’s vice chairman, called the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea ‘arenas for oil war.’ “The main issue is products,” Yergin told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box.'” S&P estimates 6 million barrels daily of refining capacity are offline. Russia halted diesel exports due to Ukraine’s attacks on refineries, while Middle Eastern product exports are also disrupted by Hormuz tensions. “This impacts the entire economy,” Yergin said. “Brazilian farmers face higher diesel prices, driving the current scramble.”

The Strait of Hormuz is rattling global trade, but the waterway is just one example of a vital maritime corridor becoming a frontline, in a new age of drones and missiles targeting economic lifelines.

From the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea to the Black Sea, attacks on commercial vessels have disrupted trade, raised insurance and freight costs, and forced shipping companies to reconsider routes once treated as dependable.

The stakes are high: roughly 80% of global merchandise trade by volume moves by sea. Disrupting even one major route can delay cargo, tighten supplies and drive up prices for energy, food and consumer goods thousands of miles away.

How drones are changing maritime warfare

“We have a new chokepoint and a new war,” David Roche, president and global strategist at Quantum Strategy, wrote in a July report, referring to the Sea of Azov, where Ukrainian drones have been striking Russian tankers, and the Black Sea.

Roche described this fighting as the first maritime offensive conducted almost entirely with drones, supplemented by missiles. Such weapons give smaller military forces a cheaper means of threatening ships, ports and other infrastructure whose disruption carries a huge economic cost.

Quantum estimates that about 25% of Russia’s grain exports and 25% to 30% of its Black Sea oil exports could be disrupted. Russia grows more than a fifth of internationally traded wheat, magnifying the potential consequences for global food prices.

Yevgeniya Gaber, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, said Russia’s move earlier this month to suspend shipping through the Kerch Strait, which connects the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, has effectively shut down a vital maritime corridor.

“Maritime transport through the Sea of Azov had become an increasingly important alternative to the land corridor connecting Russia with occupied Crimea,” Gaber told CNBC by email.

“The economic implications are equally important,” Gaber said, adding that the Sea of Azov has been used not only to transport sanctioned crude oil and petroleum products but also grain, coal and steel.

Gaber said Ukraine’s efforts to exploit Russia’s maritime and economic weaknesses constitute “one of the most significant blows to military and commercial fleets” since World War II. Indeed, Ukraine says it has degraded roughly one-third of Russia’s Black Sea fleet since 2022.

Why the Panama Canal could be the next flashpoint

In the Strait of Hormuz, commercial operators are contending with attacks and rapidly shifting signals over whether passage is safe. Governments can declare a waterway open, but shipowners make their own decisions based on the likelihood of a vessel being hit and crew members being injured or killed.

“We often treat the Strait of Hormuz, the Black Sea, or Bab el-Mandeb as isolated events. They are not,” said Daejin Lee, global head of research at Fertistream Freight.

“These waterways are increasingly becoming battlegrounds within the broader transition toward a new world order,” he told CNBC via email.

And the next threats are already emerging.

“If you’re talking about the next flashpoint, I wouldn’t look at the Strait of Hormuz,” said Lars Jensen, chief executive officer of Vespucci Maritime. “I would look at the Panama Canal.”

The strategic passage, which has offered a shortcut for ships transiting between the Pacific and the North Atlantic for more than a century, is already caught in a geopolitical dispute involving the U.S., China and Panama over influence. Potential weather-related restrictions toward the end of this year and early next year could compound those tensions by reducing capacity, Jensen added.

Impact on shipping ‘bigger than most realize’

For shipping companies, the challenge is preparing for a world where the next chokepoint can emerge before the last one has reopened.

Kevin O’Marah, co-founder and chief research officer at supply chain intelligence firm Zero100, told CNBC the Strait of Hormuz became the most critical part of the U.S.-Iran war after Iran discovered merely threatening traffic there was enough to stop it.

While none of Zero100′s clients had come under attack in the strait, O’Marah said some had decided to avoid that risk by actively managing inventories and rerouting shipments.

“It has added cost and delay for some of our clients in the energy, food, and electronics industries,” he said.

“As of now, traffic through the Strait looks to be running at about half the normal flow. The recent breakdown in the ceasefire has definitely hurt the situation but no one is surprised. Supply chain leaders, and in particular logistics specialists like Martin Brower and Maersk, are aware and have well established protocols for dealing with the risk.”

Mitigation strategies include rerouting across the Arabian Peninsula via pipeline for oil, overland into Turkey for certain kinds of commodities and avoiding the area completely as much as possible, O’Marah said.

The war in the Middle East “does not look like an escalating conflict to most supply chain leaders, but it does look likely to be a long-term problem in terms of freedom of movement through the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.

“We are planning on a steady state of transportation uncertainty and costs associated with reroutings, inventory buffering, and shipping surcharges.”

Alain Bejjani, a Dubai-based investor, business executive and judge on “Shark Tank Lebanon,” told CNBC shipping lanes would stay at the center of the war “because they are the conflict.”

“The war has migrated from territory to logistics. A strait does not close when missiles fly; it closes when insurers stop writing cover,” he said. “That makes disruption cheap to sustain and hard to price, which is exactly why it persists.”

A spokesperson for insurance broker Gallagher told CNBC war risk insurance — an add-on that covers financial losses caused by war, terrorism, and civil unrest — is still available. But they noted that “a handful but not many” ship owners or charters are opting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Given the challenging maritime security environment, rates have increased from levels that owners and charterers will be used to. The cost will vary depending on the vessel type, cargo and routing, however marine insurers are continuing to provide cover and helping to ensure marine commerce can continue with adequate coverage in place,” they added.

How companies are responding to shipping risks

Bejjani told CNBC that the structural consequence of maritime warfare “is bigger than most people realize.”

“The Gulf is bracketed by two straits, not one, and the region is now designing around both Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb to the maximum extent possible,” he said.

“That is new. Past crises produced hedges. This one is producing an architecture: overland corridors, bypass pipelines, forward storage near the markets that matter most. It will cost heavily, take a decade, and ripple for decades more. I expect other strait-dependent regions to follow, though few with the same urgency or resources.”

He warned that, although shipping will maintain its edge in terms of volumes, it is likely to “lose its monopoly on trust” in the business world.

“Other modes of transport will be substantially enhanced where certainty matters most, and redundancy becomes a permanent, priced feature of logistics,” he said.

“The strait will reopen. The assumption that it stays open for free will not return.”

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