Tech titans Grab, Traveloka, PropertyGuru eye US listings via SPAC merger – but what of Asia’s bourses? Run for the money. Southeast Asia’s tech titans and start-up unicorns are increasingly eyeing listings on US stock markets via ‘special-purpose acquisition company’ mergers. Image: SCMP
When the Singapore-headquartered super app Grab announced on Tuesday that it was going public in the United States via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), it caused a flurry of excitement. And it s not the only Southeast Asian tech company eyeing a listing via such a move.
Indonesian unicorn Traveloka, an online travel booking platform, is also reportedly in advanced discussions to go public in the US through a SPAC merger, as is Singapore online real estate firm PropertyGuru. Unicorns are defined as tech companies valued at US$1 billion or more.
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2 Mar, 2021 Author Rebecca IsjwaraXiuxi Zhu
Hong Kong and Singapore, Asia s most established financial centers, are taking very different approaches to blank-check companies, alternatives to traditional IPOs that are gathering steam in the region where takeover targets are plentiful.
Singapore Exchange Ltd. is reportedly working toward listing special purpose acquisition companies, which are skeleton organizations that launch with the intention of buying and reverse merging with a private company, as early as 2021. On the other hand, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., where companies raised several times more funds from IPOs than its Singapore counterpart in 2020, is treading a cautious path.