The biggest SPAC acquisition ever is coming out of Singapore as ride-hailing and food delivery platform Grab is going public on the Nasdaq through a record breaking USD 39.6 bn agreement that will see it merge with a US-based SPAC Altimer Growth, Reuters reports. Altimer Capital is leading the offering with USD 750 mn from funds it manages and has so far seen at least USD 4 bn in private investment in public equity (PIPEs) from a number of investors including BlackRock and Fidelity International.

SPACs had a breakthrough year in 2020 that saw the blank cheque companies raise some USD 83 bn. Appetite looks set to continue this year with SPACs already raising USD 99 bn so far, despite fears last month that a US bond market selloff would kill investor appetite for the highly speculative asset.

Need a refresher on your SPACs and PIPEs? You can find our explainers here and here.

Coinbase valued at USD 65 bn ahead of direct listing: Nasdaq has given crypto exchange Coinbase a reference price of USD 250 a share, valuing the company at USD 65.3 bn as it prepares to go ahead with a direct listing in the US today, CNBC reports. This will be the first listing of a crypto firm in the US and has been called a watershed moment for the industry indicative of digital currencies’ increasing acceptance among mainstream investors.

Chinese regulators have given tech companies a month to clear up anti-competitive practices following the antitrust ruling against e-commerce giant Alibaba which saw it slapped with a record USD 2.8 bn fine, the Financial Times reports. A record 76 tech companies shelved plans to list on Shanghai's answer to the Nasdaq, Star Market, last month, after China pulled the brakes on Alibaba-affiliate and financial tech powerhouse Ant Group's USD 37 bn IPO amid increased scrutiny and tighter regulation.

The EGX30 fell 1.4% yesterday on turnover of EGP 995 mn (27.3% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 5.0% YTD.

In the green: AMOC (+15.1%), Fawry (+0.8%) and Credit Agricole (+0.3%).

In the red: ElSewedy Electric (-7.3%), Heliopolis Housing (-4.4%) and Ibnsina Pharma (-4.1%).

Japan’s Nikkei is the only major Asian market in the red so far today, while futures suggest that European shares will open in the green later this morning, as will stocks in Toronto. Wall Street so far looks set to start the day in the red at the opening bell.