Shares in Grab Holdings Inc. plunged on debut on their Nasdaq today after the company completed a special-purpose acquisition company merger with Altimeter Growth Corp.

The listing, the largest-ever SPAC deal, valued Grab, often referred to as the Uber of Southeast Asia, at $40 billion. Grab is also only the second major tech company from Southeast Asia to be listed in the U.S., following Sea Ltd., which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017.

Under the deal, Grab will receive $4.5 billion, including $4 billion private investment in public equity, led by $750 million from funds managed by Altimeter Capital Management, Deal Street Asia reported. Also participating were BlackRock, T. Rowe Price, Counterpoint Global and Janus Henderson.

The SPAC merger was initially expected in July but was pushed back for a required financial audit of its accounts.

Coming into its listing, Grab reported a net loss of $988 million for the quarter ended in September, versus a $621 million loss in the same quarter of the previous year. Revenue in the quarter came in at $157 million, down 9% year-over-year. Like Uber Technolgoies Inc. and Lyft Inc. in the U.S. last year, the company has been hit hard by COVID-19, be it with major outbreaks in Southeast Asia occurring this year. Vietnam, which had strict lockdowns at one point in major cities, particularly hit Grab’s revenue in the quarter.

“We don’t view growth and profitability as mutually exclusive. We operate in a market with a large market opportunity and low penetration across our verticals,” Grab co-founder and chief executive officer Anthony Tan told CNBC. “We do believe we have a cost leadership advantage.”

Notable Grab backers include SoftBank Group Holdings, Toyota Motor Corp., Hyundai Motor Co. and Didi Global Inc. Also among the list of shareholders going into the SPAC is Uber. Uber sold its operations in Southeast Asia to Grab in 2018 in return for a 27.5% stake in the company. The stake Uber holds is less today because it would have been diluted as Grab continued to bring on additional investors, but Uber is still a significant shareholder.

While initially surging up to 20% on debut, Grab’s share price then headed in the opposite direction, ending regular trading down 23%, to $8.75 a share.

Photo: Duncan Riley