Grab Holdings Inc. said it would go public on the Nasdaq stock market by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company, providing a valuation of nearly $ 40 billion in a new phase for the SPAC boom that swept the US financial markets .
The $ 39.6 billion deal that will be listed on Grab, a wallet, food delivery and digital wallet group that operates largely in Southeast Asia, is by far the largest involving a company with empty verification and means that Grab’s evaluation has doubled in just 18 months. The merger also comes with a $ 4 billion fundraiser, which is the largest sale of shares by a Southeast Asian company in the United States.
Grab, based in Singapore, said on Tuesday that it would merge with Altimeter Growth Corp., a SPAC sponsored by Altimeter Capital in Menlo Park, California, confirming details previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Grab mergers add to the frenzy of SPAC-related transactions. A record total of $ 99 billion has been raised in the United States by a total of 306 SPACs this year, according to SPAC Research, and about 435 of these vehicles are still looking for a merger target.
As part of the transaction, more than $ 4 billion has been committed to a so-called PIPE, a type of financing round that typically accompanies such mergers with empty check companies. PIPE means “private investment in public capital”. Grab will receive a maximum of approximately $ 4.5 billion in cash from the transaction.