Southeast Asian decacorn Grab has announced earlier this week that it plans to go public with a US IPO following its agreement to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Altimeter Growth Corp (NASDAQ: “AGC”). It is expected to be the largest-ever US equity offering by a Southeast Asian company as the deal values the leading Southeast Asian super app at approximately $39.6 billion. The company is expected to be traded on NASDAQ under ticker “GRAB” as it goes public.

The proposed transactions value Grab at $39.6 billion at a private investment in public equity (PIPE) size of more than $4 billion and will provide Grab with approximately $4.5 billion in cash proceeds. The PIPE deal was participated by investors including BlackRock, Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley Investment Management), Fidelity International, T. Rowe Price Associates, Mubadala, Nuveen, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, and Temasek Holdings. Other participants in the PIPE include Indonesian family groups such as Djarum, the Sariaatmadja family, and Sinar Mas.

The fully committed PIPE is led by $750 million from funds managed by Altimeter Capital Management, LP. Altimeter commits to a three-year lock-up period for its sponsor promote shares, 10 percent of which will go to the GrabForGood Fund to support programs with long-term social and environmental impact.

“It gives us immense pride to represent Southeast Asia in the global public markets. This is a milestone in our journey to open up access for everyone to benefit from the digital economy. This is even more critical as our region recovers from COVID-19. It was very challenging for us, too, but it taught us immensely about the resiliency of our business. Our diversified superapp strategy helped our driver-partners pivot to deliveries and enabled us to deliver growth while improving profitability. As we become a publicly-traded company, we’ll work even harder to create economic empowerment for our communities, because when Southeast Asia succeeds, Grab succeeds,” Grab Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Tan said in a statement.

Grab’s announcement to go public comes months after making moves to build up its capital war chest, with reports of the company’s intentions of releasing a US IPO. Last February, Grab announced that it had raised $2 billion via term loan facility from undisclosed institutional investors to “strengthen its liquidity” and “diversify its financing sources.” Two weeks after announcing the term loan facility, Grab announced that it had received an undisclosed amount from South Korean Shinsegae Group through its VC arm, Signite Partners.

With Southeast Asia having one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the world, Grab has been making moves to ensure that it keeps its position as the region’s leading super app. Though online penetration for food delivery, on-demand mobility, and electronic transactions are a fraction of the US or China, Grab expects the industry in Southeast Asia to grow from $52 billion in 2020 to more than $180 billion by 2025.

“As one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing internet companies, Grab is paving the digital path forward for the 670 million citizens of Southeast Asia. We are thrilled that Grab selected Altimeter Capital Markets as their partner to go public and even more excited to become sizable long term owners in this innovative, mission driven company,” said Altimeter Founder and Chief Executive Officer Brad Gerstner.

The proposed transactions between Grab and Altimeter have been approved by the board of directors of both companies and are expected to close within the coming months. They are now awaiting shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Tan added: “We’ve always believed in long-term partnerships to drive impact at scale. We work closely with governments to support their national agendas, and have partnered with some of the world’s best blue chip companies. Altimeter is investing in a way that demonstrates our aligned values, with a three-year lock-up on their sponsor promote shares and unprecedented contribution of shares to our new GrabForGood endowment fund. They’re joining our journey for the long-run, together with an incredible day one cap table of renowned institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds. This is testament to the global investment community’s belief in the long-term value proposition of Grab’s superapp strategy and the exciting growth potential of Southeast Asia.”