The largest SPAC ever

Southeast Asia’s Grab is eyeing a $39B SPAC deal.

If you’re a superapp and you don’t have a presence in SEA, are you even a superapp? (Source: WorldAtlas)

The largest SPAC ever

Southeast Asian superapp Grab announced plans to go public by partnering with Altimeter Growth Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Axios reports.

The kicker: At an equity value at $39.6B, it would be the largest SPAC ever.

Grab was founded in 2011 as a ride-hailing startup

Since then, the Singapore-based company has added a digital wallet, food delivery, and more to its offering.

As we previously detailed, 650m+ people — nearly twice the US population — live in 11 countries across Southeast Asia.

Many of these locales have underdeveloped infrastructure, which creates the space for “superapps” to thrive by providing one-touch access to finance, transportation, and logistics.

Grab — once called the Uber of Asia — is competing with 2 other players to be the region’s superapp:

  • Indonesia-based GoJek, valued at $10B+
  • Singapore-based Sea Limited, valued at $120B+

The largest SPAC ever hits…

… as US regulators are reviewing SPAC accounting practices per the Wall Street Journal. This change could make a SPAC look less financially attractive than it would otherwise be.

With SPACs raising more in the first 3 months of 2021 ($88B+) than all of 2020 ($83.4B), the extra scrutiny seems warranted.

Related Articles

Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t.