Singapore's Grab in talks to go public via SPAC deal in $40bn valuation



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Singapore's Grab in talks to go public via SPAC deal in $40bn valuation

Grab Holding Inc., the Singaporean multinational ride-sharing giant, has been in an advanced staged talk to go public in NYSE through a merger with a blank-check firm or SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) which in effect could value the company at more than $40 billion and would mark up the largest SPAC deal ever, a Wall Street Journal report published earlier on Thursday had unveiled citing unnamed sources given the scale of sensitivity of the issue.

Apart from that, the Wall Street Journal report had quoted at least three people familiar with the subject-matter as saying that the Japanese tech investment conglomerate SoftBank-backed Grab had been in talks with Altimeter Capital Management LP, while the nine-year old tech start-up that also provides food delivery and online payment processing services, was expecting to raise between $3 billion to $4 billion from private investors.

SPACs or blank-check companies are shell entities that could be capitalized on to taking a company public following a merger or acquisition, while SPACs are also allowed to raise funds either through private fundraising campaigns or IPOs in order to finance their mergers or acquisitions without telling their investors about the company which they have been pursuing.

Grab mulls SPAC-backed US public listing in $40 billion valuation

Apart from that, latest Wall Street Journal report on Grab’s latest move to go for an SPAC-backed public listing in the United States came forth a couple of months after a media topline had revealed that the Singaporean ride-hailing giant was mulling a US public listing.

In tandem, venture capital firm Altimeter owns two SPACs or blank check firms such as Altimeter Growth Corp and Altimeter Growth Corp II, however, the report could not specify the SPAC with which Grab Holding Inc. was holding talks over a potential SPAC merger deal.

Nevertheless, while being asked over the subject-matter, neither Grab Holdings Inc nor Altimeter had agreed to comment over the Wall Street Journal report.