SPACs as a game changer for South-east Asian businesses

THE year 2021 has been one of mega flotations for South-east Asia, with the region's most valuable unicorns such as Grab and GoTo having gone public or announced plans to list, either via the traditional initial public offering (IPO) route or by merging with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Global SPAC activity has gone from a total of 299 SPAC IPOs in 2020 with over US$75 billion raised, to 683 IPOs with a total of US$142 billion in 2021. This does not encompass SPAC IPOs that have been announced and yet to be completed, with an expected capital raise of US$63 billion.

Furthermore, the value of the acquisition, or initial business combinations (IBCs or de-SPACs) that were completed in 2020 and 2021, is over US$358 billion with several cases exceeding the initial SPAC IPO fund raised, due to additional funding through private investment in public equities (PIPE) and other sources.