Deep Dive: Grab’s rollercoaster of an IPO

---

Subscribe to Startup Snapshot wherever you listen to podcasts.

---

Grab, one of the region’s most valuable tech companies, made its Nasdaq debut last month after a record US$40 billion merger with Altimeter, a New York-listed blank-check company.

However, the super app’s first few weeks of public life haven’t been the easiest, with its shares ending at US$7.12 apiece last week – a roughly 45.5% discount to their opening price in December.

In this episode of Deep Dive, Tech in Asia’s Terence Lee, Aditya Hadi Pratama, and Simon Huang discuss Grab’s ride to the public market, its financial performance over the past year, and its prospects for the future.

Timecodes:

00:00 – Intro music
00:47 – Today’s topic: Grab’s rollercoaster of an IPO
01:55 – The hype when the bell was rung
03:14 – When Grab’s share prices began dipping
03:57 – Several factors contributed to the fall in share prices
05:15 – Grab’s plan to release more shares into the market
06:48 – Looking at Grab’s financial performance in 2021
09:24 – Grab’s Vietnam business
10:12 – Will incentive-driven growth last?
13:22 – Prospects for the future of Southeast Asia’s IPOs

Featured reporters:

• Terence Lee, editor-in-chief at Tech in Asia
• Aditya Hadi Pratama, a Tech in Asia journalist based in Jakarta, Indonesia
• Simon Huang, Tech in Asia’s industry analyst based in Singapore

Essential reading:

• Grab’s financial health in 8 charts
• Grab shares dip over 20% on Nasdaq debut despite strong opening
• Grab shares may drop further as more stocks flood the market
• Examining Grab’s incentive-fueled growth

Episode Transcript:

Nathaniel Fetalvero (VO):
Hello and welcome to Deep Dive, a show where we discuss the biggest headlines to hit the startup scene with the journalists who broke the stories.