It is a landmark moment for Egyptian and Middle Eastern tech ecosystems when a mass transit and shared mobility provider goes public. It is a test for the company going public despite the unfriendly market for combinations with SPACs.
The company, which is based in the Middle East, has listed its shares on the stock exchange. The merger was announced in July of last year.
SWVL and SWVLW will be the new names of the combined company, which will trade under the names of GMBT and GMBTW today.
The first company launched from Africa and the second company from the Middle East to list on the Nasdaq is called Swvl. Anghami, an Abu Dhabi-based music streaming platform, went public in February of last year.
Egyptian ride-sharing company Swvl plans to go public in a $1.5B SPAC merger
Private investment in public equity was raised for this transaction. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is one of the investors. The company is worth more than $1 billion.
Atalaya Capital pulled out of the transaction in February. In a filing, Queen's Gambit announced the end of forward purchase agreements worth $100 million in SPAC shares and an extra $2 million via a private placement.
The forward purchase agreement was done with a group, and it was just access to additional capital, according to Queen's Gambit Capital founder and CEO Victoria Grace.
The valuation of the company doesn't change because of the terminated deal, which is Queen's Gambit merging with SWVL.
It's not unusual for investors to withdraw their dollars from SPACs. It's a common occurrence, for instance, when the SPAC raised more than $300 million, but the hype gave way in the face of a tighter market.
There is good news for SWV. If certain conditions are met, the company has an additional $170 million from proceeds and a $470 million committed equity facility with B. Riley Principal.
Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah founded the company. The company was started as a bus-sharing service in Egypt and other emerging markets with fragmented public transportation.
Users can book seats on buses running a fixed route through its bus-booking services. Bus-hailing services are not the only offerings that have expanded. The company now offers inter-city rides, car ride-sharing, and corporate services in 10 cities it operates in across Africa and the Middle East.
Both parties had a mutual interest in the partnership.
While searching for a company to acquire, Swvl fit the criteria of the blank check company, which was looking for strong business fundamentals, mobility and logistics, and an ESG ethos around women and affordable transportation.
On the other hand, on the back of raising over $170 million in venture capital, expanding to over 16 countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa, and acquiring Shotl, Viapool and door2door, as well as hiring executives from Facebook, Uber and Optimus, and acquiring a few
The most suitable option for it from a financial standpoint was a SPAC with Queen's Gambit, and both parties feel strongly about thesustainability angle around transport.
The company plans to expand into several countries over the next six months.
All eyes will be on the company's performance as it officially starts trading tomorrow in a cooling SPAC market and a generally uncertain public market.
Grace said that as long as the company operates and delivers results, people won't pay attention to it.
I think the market will change just like it always does, and people will look at the company's performance in a different way. They have been beating the numbers that were presented to us. That makes me excited about this. That is the type of target you want to partner with.
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