SPAC Focussed on India raises nearly 1400 Crores and lists in NASDAQ
Serial Entrepreneur Bhargav Marepally, CEO of GSS Infotech Limited, and Prabhu Antony, co-founder of Hong Kong-based financial institution Sett & Lucas have raised USD 200 million ( ~INR 1400 Crores) in a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company), StoneBridge Acquisition Corporation (SBAC) through an IPO in the US.
SBAC a newly incorporated Blank Cheque company, public listed in the US capital markets (NASDAQ: APACU), aims to complete its target acquisition within 12-16 months. The company plans to target the “new economy sectors,” which include consumer technology, communications, software, SaaS, fintech, media sectors and renewables. Its focus is on businesses in the Asia Pacific region, with a special emphasis on India, especially those with enterprise values between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.
“Our plan is to actively involve with companies that have immense scope for growth that are actively looking for growth capital to expand in the Asia Pacific region. In particular, we will be looking at companies in India that have the potential to drive transformational change” says Bhargav, CEO & Director of SBAC. He also adds “Our board and management team bring in deep expertise in the new economy sectors, cross border M&A, business development prospects that will help us get to a suitable target quickly, while allowing the target to leverage our expertise for expansion and growth across geographies.”
“The 400M strong Indian middle class presents a great opportunity for D2C and B2B business models. For firms with global aspirations, the US capital market listing presents a great opportunity. We barely have 20 firms public listed from India compared to over 200 firms from China. This SPAC provides a first of its kind opportunity to correct this listing disparity. Wall street thinks the time is right for India”, says Prabhu Antony -President, CFO and Co-founder of Stonebridge Acquisition Corporation.
