Singapore-based ride-hailing and food delivery giant Grab Holdings said the completion of its merger with Nasdaq-listed bank check company Altimeter Growth Corp. has been pushed back to the fourth quarter.
The merger with Altimeter, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), was originally scheduled to be completed in the third quarter. However, Grab said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that a financial audit of its accounts in the past three years are still being finalized.
“We are working with the SEC to obtain pre-clearance of certain accounting policies and related financial disclosures in accordance with the SEC’s procedures,” Grab said in a statement. “As a result, our financial information for these periods remain subject to further review and revision.”
Grab plans to raise $4 billion through the backdoor listing with Altimeter in what would be the biggest-ever acquisition by a SPAC. The deal values Grab at $40 billion, making it among the most valuable startups in Southeast Asia.
Regulators have stepped up scrutiny of SPAC deals amid a global IPO boom. Companies raised about $130 billion in the U.S. this year, of which $88.2 billion were SPAC deals, according to Refinitiv data.
Grab was cofounded by Anthony Tan and Hooi Ling Tan in 2012 as a taxi-booking app but grew to become a superapp that provides everything from ride-hailing and food delivery to digital payments. The company now operates across 428 cities in eight countries.
Consolidated gross merchandise value rose 5.2% to $3.6 billion in the first quarter as a 49% increase in food deliveries offset a decline in ride hailing, Grab said in its US SEC filing. It didn’t provide revenue or profit numbers.
Grab drivers wait for orders outside Nu Sentral shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March … [+]
Samsul Said/Bloomberg