EXCLUSIVE Grab Mulling Secondary Listing in Singapore to SPAC Merger Sources

Grab Holdings, a giant delivery giant in Southeast Asia, is considering a secondary listing in its home market in Singapore after completing a Nasdaq listing through a $ 40 billion merger, three sources have revealed.

The listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI) will enable Grab to have an investor base close to where its regional business is located, the people said, potentially making it easier for its clients, executives and trading partners to access its shares. trades.

Grab, a well-known figure throughout Southeast Asia, is considering a secondary listing in the city-state, the sources said, who do not want to be identified because they are not authorized to speak on the matter.

Grab and SGX declined to comment on the listing plans.

“For the right issuer, a secondary listing can be a good step. You can get the best of both worlds,” said Raymond Tong, capital market and M&A partner at law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore.

“If your housing markets are in this region, a listing in Singapore can help you use another pool of investors, as there are many family offices and funds in Singapore,” Tong said.

The possible listing plans in Singapore come after Grab made a $ 40 billion merger with Altimeter Growth Corp (AGC.O), a specialty procurement company (SPAC), this week and set a record for the largest SPAC deal in the world. world. read more

As part of the deal, Grab is raising $ 4 billion from investors, including BlackRock (BLK.N), Temasek Holdings, Fidelity International, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Malaysia and some of the richest family groups in Indonesia.

Grab, which started as a rowing business in 2012, now operates in eight countries and more than 400 cities and has expanded into food and grocery deliveries, as well as digital payments. Last year, he won a digital banking license in Singapore.

It was not clear how much Grab would be able to raise in a secondary listing, with financial conditions and roster still in the early stages of consideration, the sources said.

The company with the highest valuation on the stock exchange in Singapore is the bank DBS Group Ltd (DBSM.SI), which is currently worth approximately S $ 74 billion ($ 55.4 billion) per capitalization.

One of the sources said that although Grab has sufficient cash reserves and may end up raising only a small amount on SGX, a listing will mean a big profit for the stock market.

SGX has mainly only seen large IPOs of investment trusts. Hindered by a small number of retail investors in the city-state, he struggled with low liquidity and valuations, which necessitated the delisting and also discouraged big card lists of regionally growing companies.

However, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange benefited from diplomatic and political tensions between the United States and China, which led many Chinese companies to seek secondary listings in Hong Kong. Global fund managers also swapped China’s shares of Wall Street for Hong Kong. read more

SGX has taken many steps over the past few years to expand its stock market, and under CEO Loh Boon Chye, who was appointed six years ago, it has acquired businesses to transform itself into a multi-asset exchange.

Over the past three years, SGX-listed companies have raised about four times more funds in the secondary market than with primary fundraising.

Currently, there are 28 companies with a secondary listing on SGX, including the Malaysian IHH Healthcare Bhd (IHHH.KL) and Top Glove Corp Bhd (TPGC.KL) and the Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings (JARD.SI).

Last year, AMTD International became the first NYSE-listed company to list on SGX. It will also be the first to take advantage of a dual-class share structure in Singapore.

($ 1 = 1.3351 Singapore dollars)

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