Ravi Thakran's Turmeric Capital latest to weigh Singapore SPAC listing
SINGAPORE'S blank-cheque listing market is gaining momentum, even before its exchange's framework for the listing of special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) has been rolled out.
Three companies - Ravi Thakran's Turmeric Capital, Novo Tellus Capital Partners and Temasek-backed Vertex - are said to be exploring SPAC listings in Singapore, and thus might be among the first to list a blank-cheque company in the city-state.
Turmeric Capital, the Singapore-based private equity firm that is led by former L Catterton Asia head Mr Thakran, is the latest among the three. It is now working with advisers on the potential SPAC listing, according to a Bloomberg report.
One of the individuals Bloomberg cited said that the blank-cheque firm could raise about S$300 million and Mr Thakran will be its chairman and chief executive officer. Details of the blank-cheque company including size and timeline have not been finalised, pending listing guidelines by the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The Business Times (BT) has reached out to Turmeric Capital for comment.
SGX has closed its market consultation for SPAC listings, and the framework is now "undergoing regulatory approval", said chief executive Loh Boon Chye last week. The regulator had consulted the market earlier this year and proposed requirements such as a minimum S$300 million market capitalisation threshold for listing a blank-cheque company as well as a more stringent requirement than the US for warrants and share redemption.
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Mr Thakran, who is the former group chairman of LVMH South and South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, told BT in January that he would be keen to set up a blank-cheque company in Singapore should SGX introduce such structures.
"SPACs can provide them a real route to the market, and I think Singapore should certainly have a meaningful share of this market," he added. Mr Thakran added then that he believes there are a few thousand companies in Asia that should be public.
Mr Thakran last September raised over US$200 million in a SPAC - Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp - on the New York Stock Exchange. The blank-cheque firm last month merged with private jet charter company Wheels Up. The private equity veteran in February then filed another initial public offering for Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp II SPAC to raise about US$300 million.
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