Southeast Asia’s Grab sees $40 billion SPAC merger delayed to Q4

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

The company had previously said it aimed to close the deal by July.

Grab said it was in the process of finalising its financial audit for fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020 in accordance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 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 remain 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 same period a year ago.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan and Anshuman Daga; Editing by Martin Petty)