Ride-hailing firm Grab Holdings to list in US via £28bn Altimeter Growth merger

A GrabBike driver rides on his motorbike in Jakarta, Indonesia (Tatan Syuflana/AP)

South East Asia’s largest ride-hailing company Grab Holdings has said it plans to merge with US-based Altimeter Growth Capital in a deal that would value it at nearly 40 billion dollars in preparation for an initial public offering in the US.

Grab’s agreement to list via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) – a shell company set up with the aim of raising money through an IPO to acquire another company – has drawn four billion dollars (£2.9 billion) in private investment in public equity from a group of investors including Fidelity International and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.