(Bloomberg) — Bridgetown Holdings Ltd., the US-listed blank-check company backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li, is considering a potential merger with digital telecom services provider Circles.Life, according to people familiar with the matter.
The special purpose acquisition company is holding early talks with Singapore-based Circles.Life to explore a transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Bridgetown could seek a valuation for the combined entity of about $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion, the people said.
Considerations are preliminary and there’s no guarantee an agreement could be reached, the people said. Bridgetown could also look at other targets for a merger, while Circles.Life could opt to pursue other transactions, they added.
Founded in 2016, Circles.Life offers digital mobile services including voice, data, roaming and international calls, according to its website. The company reached 5% market share in Singapore in 2019 and also has operations in Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia and Japan. Warburg Pincus LLC 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. Shares of Bridgetown were little changed in New York trading Wednesday.
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-check companies have also hurt sentiment in the once-heated sector. Earlier this week, Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd. told investors it’s returning their $4 billion after failing to consummate a merger deal.
Bridgetown raised $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 Southeast Asia. The SPAC had previously held talks with other targets including Indonesia’s Traveloka, Bloomberg News has reported. It also considered a merger with e-commerce giant PT Tokopedia before the Indonesian firm merged with ride-hailing service provider Gojek, creating the internet firm GoTo Group.
Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd., another blank-check company backed by Li and Thiel, merged with real estate marketplace PropertyGuru Pte earlier this year.
(Updates Bridgetown shares in fifth paragraph.)
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