GRAB’S $40B SPAC MERGER DELAYED TO 4TH QUARTER

Southeast Asia's Grab, which is going public through a merger worth $40 billion with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Altimeter Growth Corp., said it expects to complete the business combination during the fourth quarter, Reuters reported.

The company had previously said it aimed to close the deal by July but Grab said it was in the process of finalizing its financial audit for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020 in accordance with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirements.

It is also was working with the SEC to obtain pre-clearance of certain accounting policies and related financial disclosures. As a result, Grab's financial information for those periods remains subject to further review and revision, it said in a statement.

Grab also said its consolidated gross merchandise value during the first quarter of 2021 was $3.6 billion, an increase of 5.2% over the same period a year ago.

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC