Malaysia’s budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd is considering a listing of its digital arm AirAsia Digital via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in the United States to raise at least $300 million, according to its Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters on Wednesday, he said a few technology-focused SPACs have approached the airline group, and AirAsia has engaged auditors for a deal to list the unit.
AirAsia Digital includes a travel and lifestyle services platform, logistics, and FinTech businesses. The group has also announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring Indonesia ride-hailing tech giant Gojek’s operations in Thailand.
The deal values the AirAsia SuperApp at around $1 billion, more than the pandemic-hit airline’s current market value of $868 million, Reuters reported.
“We have now recruited our auditors to start preparing for an American listing so that’s very much on the table,” Fernandes was quoted as saying. He also said that Rothschild is working on the listing that could happen in five months.
The group is also in discussions with other suitors, including Malaysian and Indonesian private equity, he added.
Last week, AirAsia announced that its FinTech arm BigPay has formed a consortium with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF), Singapore-based private equity firm Ikhlas Capital and a foreign conglomerate with fintech expertise to apply for a digital banking license in Malaysia.
The development also came after Southeast Asia ride-hailing giant Grab’s announced in April it will go for listing in the US in a $40 billion deal to merge with a SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp. The SPAC route has gained traction in Asia as it serves as an alternative to traditional IPOs for companies. It provides a faster path to the US capital markets, with lesser regulatory scrutiny.
Bridgetown 2 Holdings, a SPAC formed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li, is considering merging with Singapore-based online property portal PropertyGuru Group, Bloomberg reported last month. Indonesia’s travel tech unicorn Traveloka has also announced its plans to list in the US this year using SPAC.
Fernandes said that talks with a US company over a loan of $1 billion for the digital business are also “near conclusion.”
AirAsia has been looking to raise funds as the aviation industry is severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. International borders in most of the markets it operates remained closed to contain the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The airline has a target to raise up to 2.5 billion MYR ($618.51 million) from loans and investors, according to earlier reports.
Fernandes also said the group could announce updates on its financing “as soon as next week,” and that a government-guaranteed loan was also being processed.
AirAsia announced in March that it has raised $82 million from TPG Capital executives, Aimia Inc, and others through a private share placement. The group raised $81.70 million over two tranches by issuing 470.21 million new shares, representing 14.07 percent of the group’s total issued shares.
TPG Capital founder and chairman David Bonderman and TPG Asia Partners, including Tim Dattels, Ganen Sarbananthan and Zubin Irani, Hong Kong businessman Stanley Choi, who is also chairman at Head & Shoulders Financial Group, also participated.