Private securities marketplace Forge Global goes public via SPAC merger

FORGE Global, a marketplace where people trade in shares of private companies, will list on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday (Mar 22) via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Motive Capital Corp.

The new partnered company will be named Forge Global Holdings and will be listed under the tickers "FRGE" and "FRGE WS", said True Global Ventures, which backs Forge, in a statement.

Some of True Global Ventures' general partners in Singapore include PropertyGuru co-founder Jani Rautiainen; Zopim co-founder Lim Qingru; Sparks Systems chief executive officer and founder Wong Joo Seng; PhillipCapital's Luke and Linus Lim; among others.

Unicorns Grab, Sea, PropertyGuru, Bukalapak were traded on Forge before it went public.

Dusan Stojanvoic, founding partner of True Global Ventures, said: "This experience of backing one of the most industry-changing startups back in 2010, helping them to grow through the years, and being part of the successful journey, has been extremely rewarding and fulfilling.

"We know that the company is in very good hands now... I am confident that Forge Global will continue to grow strongly as the private securities market is ever growing," he added.

Forge's revenue minus transaction-based expenses grew by 75 per cent year on year in 2021. Its trading volume grew 71 per cent in 2021 to S$3.2 billion.