Singapore and Hong Kong startups are sidestepping their home stock exchanges to merge with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in the U.S., as fundraising vehicles in the Asian financial hubs have yielded little on their exit plans, Nikkei Asia reports.
Information from financial data provider Refinitiv shows that at least nine Singapore and Hong Kong companies this year have announced plans to go public with SPACs listed in the U.S., despite the cities offering a number of these shell companies since the first quarter — none of which has merged successfully with a target business.
Refinitiv’s data showed that across the Asia-Pacific region, at least 28 SPAC deals have been announced in the first nine months this year worth a total of $23.4 billion. However, none of them involved SPACs from the Singapore or Hong Kong exchanges. Read more.
