The deal – the largest merger between a company and a blank cheque company – will value the SoftBank-backed firm at about $35 billion.
The Singapore-based technology group could finalize an agreement to list with one of Altimeter Capital’s special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) as soon as this week. Grab will raise about $2.5 billion through private investment in public equity (Pipe), which typically involves selling shares in a private arrangement with investors. Of that, close to $1.2 billion will be funded by Altimeter, which will also backstop the sale of any shares in the SPAC by public shareholders when the deal is announced, the report said.
Grab founder Anthony Tan will own 2 percent of the listed entity, the pink paper’s sources said. Softbank, one of the company’s biggest investors, will also be looking at a major payday.
Founded in 2012, Grab, which started out as a ride-hailing service, now provides food delivery, payments and insurance, among other services on its app, and holds a digital banking license in Singapore. It serves a regional consumer market of 655 million people in countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Gojek, Grab’s main regional rival, is in advanced merger talks with local e-commerce marketplace Tokopedia, ahead of a planned initial public offering of the combined entity.