Grab Holdings and Traveloka are ready to become public companies and sell shares on Wall Street exchange in the coming months. These two big startups are about to kick off the party to welcome the long-neglected Southeast Asian internet business scene.
Reporting from Bloomberg, Monday (12/4/2021), Grab this week will announce registration to the stock exchange. It will sell shares through a blank check company or Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) on the US stock exchange.
Thomas Rowe Price and Temasek Holdings Pte support this move. They allegedly valued Grab’s valuation at more than US $ 34 billion at the IPO.
Traveloka from Indonesia will also follow. They are said to be listed on the stock exchange with a valuation of around US $ 5 billion through the company SPAC which is supported by billionaires Richard Li and Peter Thiel.
Tokopedia and Gojek Also Plan to Merger
Tokopedia also called investor was seeking approval for a merger with Gojek. This could create Indonesia’s largest internet company ahead of multiple IPO plans.
These major deals will feature a series of initial public offerings or IPOs from startup companies in the Southeast Asian region. Their debut allowed investors to bet on the influence of the industry in the mobile era over the financial institutions and conglomerates that have long dominated companies in Southeast Asia.
The technology industry in Southeast Asia is home to about 10 of the world’s most populous countries. These countries also have the fastest growing economies. For example, like Indonesia.
Southeast Asia hasn’t had a single large tech company listed for a long time. There is only Sea Group which went public in New York in 2017.
This huge potential attracts parties such as Amazon.com Inc. It’s in order to major Chinese companies including Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, to become key to their global ambitions.
Business interest in the Southeast Asian region has increased partly due to external factors. Investments have been pouring out of the names of big investors in China since Beijing launched a campaign to contain Alibaba and its partners late last year.
In Southeast Asia, the IPO rush has been driven in part by Sea Group’s astonishing rise since early 2020. The Tencent-backed gaming and online shopping leader has emerged as a stock market sensation since its IPO.
Among companies valued at US $ 100 billion or more, the stock is the number 1 issuer from Asia since the start of last year and only lags behind Tesla Inc. globaly.
