JAKARTA, Dec 11 Reuters China39;s TikTok has agreed to spend 840 million to buy most of Indonesian tech conglomerate GoTo39;s ecommerce unit a move that appears to allow it to restart its online shopping business in Southeast Asia39;s largest economy.

It also said it will invest further in the business, Tokopedia, which is Indonesia39;s biggest ecommerce platform, for a total outlay of 1.5 billion.

TikTok had been forced to close its relatively new ecommerce service, TikTok Shop, in Indonesia after the country banned online shopping on social media platforms in September, citing the need to protect smaller merchants and users39; data.

The new partnership will commence with a pilot period carried out in close consultation with and supervision by relevant regulators, the companies said in a joint statement.

We are creating an Indonesian ecommerce champion, combining Tokopedia39;s strong local presence with TikTok39;s mass market reach and technological prowess, GoTo CEO Patrick Walujo said in a statement.

GoTo now sits on a much stronger foundation and we expect this partnership to bring many benefits not just for ecommerce, but for our ondemand services and fintech businesses as well, he said.

GoTo39;s businesses include ridehailing, delivery and financial services.

Under the deal, TikTok, which is owned by China39;s ByteDance, will buy 75.01 of Tokopedia and inject TikTok Shop39;s Indonesia business into the enlarged Tokopedia entity.

Officials at Indonesia39;s…