Singapore unicorn Grab could list in the US by early December after the special purpose acquisition company it plans to merge with said it will vote on the proposed deal next week.
Altimeter Growth Corp, the SPAC in question, will hold an extraordinary general meeting on November 30, US time, to seek shareholder approval for the merger. Grab will hold its own EGM by the same date. Assuming both sets of shareholders approve, Grab could complete the merger and make its public debut on Nasdaq.
In a regulatory filing dated on Friday, Altimeter Growth encouraged shareholders to approve the proposal, saying the US Securities and Exchange Commission had declared Grab’s registration statement “effective,” thereby clearing the way for the deal.
Grab CFO Peter Oey said on November 11 during the company’s third-quarter results webcast, “Subject to obtaining approval at the EGMs, we will then be in a position to proceed to close the business combination with Altimeter Growth Corp. and be publicly listed within a few days.”
Grab has said it would complete the listing during the fourth quarter of the year, after postponing once from the original target of the third quarter.
A prominent homegrown tech startup in Southeast Asia, Grab’s listing would provide US investors with a fresh opportunity to invest in a fast-growing region that has been underrepresented in the global stock market.
Grab’s market valuation will be closely monitored, as it could be a benchmark for valuation of other Southeast Asian startups planning to go public in the US in the near future. Altimeter Growth valued the Singapore company at nearly USD 40 billion when they announced the merger deal in April.
Grab will receive USD 4.5 billion through the deal including a USD 4 billion private investment in public equity, or PIPE.
According to its filings, Grab CEO Anthony Tan will become chairman and CEO of the new company, while his co-founder Tan Hooi Ling will be chief operating officer and director. The company will have four independent directors, including Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Founded in 2012, Grab offers services such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and mobile payment in a one-stop app under what it calls a “superapp” strategy. It is focused on Southeast Asian markets and operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
The company reported a net loss of USD 988 million for the three months through September, versus a USD 621 million net loss in the same period last year.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It’s republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.