Grab considers Singapore listing after US SPAC merger
Ride hailing and food delivery firm Grab is reportedly mulling a secondary listing in Singapore after merging with a US-listed SPAC.
The company recently finalised a merger with Altimeter Growth to go public in the US at a valuation of just under $40bn (£29bn).
Grab, which was founded in 2012 and became south-east Asia’s first decacorn valued at more than $10bn, will merge with the Altimeter Growth I fund, which raised $450m last year.
The tie-up represents the largest ever Spac (special purpose acquisition company) deal ever made amid a frenzy of blank cheque deals on Wall Street.
Now the startup is considering a listing on the Singapore Exchange, Reuters reported, which would give Grab an investor base close to where its regional business is based and giving customers, drivers and merchant partners easier access to trade its shares.
The company said its gross merchandise value — a measure of total sales value — hit roughly $12.5bn last year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and more than doubling from 2018.
It’s unclear how much Grab aims to raise in any secondary listing, and financial terms and timetable are still in the early stages of consideration, according to Reuters.
It’s reported that while Grab has sufficient cash reserves and could end up raising only a small amount on SGX, a listing would mark a big win for the exchange.