Singapore-based Carousell Fizzled Talks to Go public with US SPAC
People familiar with the matter said that Bloomberg Carousell Pte, a Singapore-based online classifieds marketplace operator, has recently ended talks to go public with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp., a Singapore-based online classifieds marketplace operator.
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The people said that the special purpose acquisition company, which has been conducting due diligence on Carousell over the past few months, has not been able to reach a merger agreement with the Southeast Asian business, because the matter is private.
The people said that the stock market rout has made it hard to arrange private investment in public equity, or PIPE, where typically other investors chip in funds alongside those contributed by the SPAC itself to the merged entity. Macroeconomic uncertainty and valuation concerns are also factors weighing on a potential deal, they added.
A representative for Carousell declined to respond to requests for comment, while a representative for L Catterton Asia Acquisition didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
The stock was down 0.2% at Wednesday close.
The companies were in exclusive talks to merge in a transaction that could have valued the combined entity at $1.5 billion, according to Bloomberg News in January. The deal was meant to include a PIPE worth a few hundred million dollars, people familiar with the matter said at the time.
There has been a waning of enthusiasm for SPACs due to heightened market volatility and a growing number of prominent deals fizzling out. The changing regulations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have hurt the sentiment in the once-heated sector.
The US-listed SPAC is backed by L Catterton, the $30 billion buyout firm minority-owned by Paris-based luxury goods company LVMH and billionaire Bernard Arnault's investment firm. Last year, the SPAC raised $250 million in a bid to target companies in the high-growth, consumer technology sectors across Asia, led by managing partners Chinta Bhagat and Scott Chen. It is sponsored by L Catterton Asia's $1.45 billion third fund.
The platform was founded in 2012 and includes Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver and Sequoia Capital India among its backers. According to its website, it operates several online marketplaces including Carousell, Chotot.com in Vietnam, Mudah in Malaysia and OneKyat in Myanmar.
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