Thiel-backed SPAC considers US$2.5 Bn Circles.Life deal

Highlights:

• SPAC Bridgetown Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq: BTWN) mulls merger with Circles.Life.
• BTWN is backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li.
• The current market sentiment for SPAC mergers is not very favorable. 

Bridgetown Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq: BTWN), a blank-check company backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li, is working out a potential merger with Circles.Life, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Singapore-based Circles.Life is a digital telecom services provider.

Discussion between the SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) Bridgetown Holdings and Singapore-based Circles.Life is underway to explore a deal, Bloomberg quoted people privy to the matter on condition of anonymity.  

Bridgetown is likely to seek a valuation for the combined entity of about US$1.5 billion to US$2.5 billion.

© Shutter2photos | Megapixl.com

Discussions at a preliminary phase

The deal is yet to be finalized as both the companies are weighing the chips and scales of the potential merger. The people close to the development have told Bloomberg that there is no guarantee of a definitive agreement. While Bridgetown could opt for other targets for a merger, Circles.Life is also free to look for other transactions.

Circles.Life was founded in 2016, and it offers a host of digital mobile services like voice, data, roaming & international calls, etc. mentions its websites.

It reached a 5% market share in Singapore in 2019. It also has a presence in Australia, Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia.

In 2020, Warburg Pincus LLC made a “substantial investment” in Circles.Life but did not disclose the financial terms.

No comments or statements have come from either Bridgetown or Circles.Life on the matter.

Shares in Bridgetown moved a little in early New York trading on Wednesday.

Even earlier, BTWN held talks with other companies including Indonesia’s Traveloka. It also entered a discussion with e-commerce giant PT Tokopedia. However, Tokopedia later merged with ride-hailing service provider Gojek and named it GoTo Group.

In 2020, Bridgetown raised US$595 million in a US initial public offering, aiming to find a target in the technology, financial services, or media sectors in Southeast Asia.

Bottom line:

The sentiment for SPACs is currently very low as the market volatility caused many important mergers to evaporate. The overall atmosphere is also dampened by proposals to change US regulations for blank check companies recently.