Indonesia's Lippo appoints banks for initial $200 million e-commerce funding

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group has appointed Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead its first round of funding, worth $200 million, for its e-commerce push. Lippo, controlled by the Riady family, has also chosen Rothschild as its financial adviser for the transaction. The funding will be used to "dominate e-commerce in Indonesia," it said in a statement on Monday. Lippo plans to launch payment, chat and other online services early next year as it expands in the nascent e-commerce industry of the world's fourth most populous country, director John Riady told Reuters last month. Lippo has already earmarked $500 million for a new online department store, and investment in services planned for the first quarter of 2016 will be on top of that, Riady said. (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)