Grab Heads for Public Market After Investors Approve SPAC Merger

Altimeter Growth Corp. shareholders approved the previously announced business combination with Grab, Southeast Asia's leading superapp, at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders today.

Class A common stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq on December 2, 2021 under the ticker symbol "GRAB."

Shares of Altimeter Growth Corporation fell 5.8 per cent to close at US$12.72 on Tuesday (Nov 30), after the proposal passed at an extraordinary general meeting. It rebounded slightly in post-market trading.Investors that back a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) have a chance to redeem their bets at the issue price before the merger is completed. In Grab's case, 0.02 per cent of shares were redeemed, Altimeter said in a statement. Grab's redemption rate could be considered low compared to its US peers, where interest in SPAC deals have sizzled out of late.

As a result of the transaction, Grab will receive a US$4.5 billion cash injection, which includes US$4 billion in private investment in public equity arrangement, from the SPAC promoted by Silicon Valley investor Brad Gerstner.

But the road to public markets has been rocky. After Grab unveiled plans to merge with Altimeter Capital Management’s SPAC in a $40 billion deal, they had to postpone the closing to work on an audit of the past three years’ accounts. Meanwhile, regulatory scrutiny of SPACs and a resurgence of fears about Covid-19 infections threatened to derail the agreement.

Singapore-based Grab, led by Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan, had long been viewed as a marquee company in Southeast Asia and a promising candidate to go public. Tan and co-founder Hooi Ling Tan, backed by SoftBank Group Corp., fought off aggressive competition to become one of the largest ride-hailing and delivery companies in the region -- and the most valuable startup.