S'pore telco 'in talks' with US-listed Spac
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
HONG KONG • Bridgetown Holdings, the US-listed blank-cheque company backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li, is considering a potential merger with Singapore digital telecom services provider Circles.Life, according to people familiar with the matter.
The special purpose acquisition company (Spac) is holding early talks with Circles.Life to explore a transaction, the people said, adding that Bridgetown could seek a valuation for the combined entity of about US$1.5 billion to US$2.5 billion (S$2.1 billion to S$3.5 billion). Considerations are preliminary and there is no guarantee an agreement could be reached.
Bridgetown could also look at other targets for a merger, while Circles.Life could opt to pursue other transactions, the people said.
Bridgetown 2 Holdings, another blank-cheque company backed by Mr Li and Mr Thiel, merged with real estate marketplace PropertyGuru earlier this year.
Founded in 2016, Circles.Life offers digital mobile services including voice, data, roaming and international calls, according to its website.
The company reached 5 per cent market share in Singapore in 2019 and also has operations in Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia and Japan.
Leading private equity firm Warburg Pincus made a "substantial investment" in Circles.Life in 2020, without disclosing the financial terms.
Representatives for Bridgetown, Circles.Life and Warburg Pincus declined to comment.
Enthusiasm for Spacs has waned amid heightened market volatility, with a growing number of prominent deals fizzling out. Proposals to change US regulations for blank-cheque companies have also hurt sentiment in the once-heated sector.
Bridgetown raised US$595 million in a US initial public offering in 2020 with the goal of finding a target in the technology, financial services or media sectors in South-east Asia.
The Spac had previously held talks with other targets including Indonesia's Traveloka.
It also considered a merger with e-commerce giant Tokopedia before the Indonesian firm merged with ride-hailing service provider Gojek, creating Internet firm GoTo Group.
BLOOMBERG