Amidst the report of the reports that its merger discussions with immediate rival gojek reportedly have fallen through, Singapore-based super-app company Grab is said it be considering launching an IPO in the US this year
The public offering could see Grab raising at least US$2 billion, said an exclusive report by Reuters quoting three unnamed sources. This would likely make Grab the largest overseas share offering by a Southeast Asian company after Sea Group’s US$1 billion IPO in 2017.
Good market condition coupled with Grab’s better performance will augur well for the company to go for a listing, said a source. However, there is no clarity on the size of the issue and the timing of the IPO launch. They are still still being finalised.
Also Read: Grab-gojek or Tokopedia-gojek: which merger will make better business sense?
Grab is the poster boy of the Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem with US$10.1 billion funds raised till date and is valued at US$15 billion. The company counts among its backers well-known investors such as SoftBank.
In August 2020, Grab reportedly raised US$200 million from South Korean private equity firm Stic Investments. This followed a US$1 billion fundraise from SoftBank Vision fund in 2019.
In a virtual conference organised by DealStreetAsia, Grab President Ming Maa had said that the COVID-19 pandemic had not affected the company’s thinking around an IPO or the timelines.
In recent months, multiple reports suggested that Grab was close to merging its operations with gojek. However, the deal fell through after Grab CEO Anthony Tan insisted on possessing control of the new entity. These developments come even as gojek was engaged in parallel conversations with Tokopedia for a potential merger. As per some reports, the gojek-Tokopedia deal is already signed and a formal announcement could follow soon.
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Image Credit: Grab
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