Brief: Food delivery app Grab raises $4.5bn following record-breaking SPAC deal

• Singapore-based Grab has completed its merger with Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Altimeter Growth Corp.
• The app, which provides meal and grocery delivery, cloud kitchen, ride-hailing, and digital financial services throughout Southeast Asia, raised $4.5 billion from the deal at a valuation of $40 billion – making it the world’s largest SPAC transaction to date.
• Its stock opened the day priced at $13 per share and rose almost 19% in early trading, before losing 21% to close on $8.75.
• Grab reported a 9% drop in year-on-year revenues in Q3 2021 and its net loss widened to $988 million, compared to $621 million a year earlier.
• It’s yet to turn a profit overall, though it says its food delivery business is nearing EBITDA breakeven. 

Why it matters:

Ringing the Nasdaq opening bell remotely from Singapore, co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan said the listing “shine[s] a spotlight on Southeast Asia and how its homegrown tech companies are powering new possibilities for the region’s 660 million people.”

Grab confirms record-breaking $40bn SPAC deal; archrival Gojek nears $18bn merger – read more here

In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Tan said that mapping technology would be the “number one” area of internal investment for Grab as it deploys the proceeds from its listing over the next few years.

“We invest in mapping because it’s a very ‘local’ technology,” he said. “On the drivers’ side, on the merchants’ side, and on the consumers’ side [that] gives us an edge versus other peers [and enables us] to deliver groceries more efficiently for our partners and for all consumers.”