Swvl Inc, the ride-sharing technology startup is approaching IPO with a deal to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), sources said to Wall Street Journal.
Dubai-based Swvl plans to merge with American female-led SPAC, Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, to bring the company’s value to about $1.5 billion.
Swvl was co-founded in 2017 by Mostafa Kandil who formerly worked at Careem. Swvl operates primarily in the Middle East and Africa and offers ride-sharing on mass transit, which suffers from unreliability. Its algorithms and technologies help make vehicles and routes more efficient. The company targets different types of users than Uber, focusing on customers who have no other choice of getting in and out of work or school. There are plans to expand not only to Europe but also to Latin America.
The Queen’s Gambit SPAC raised $300 million in January. At the time, the SPAC said it was considering investing in target companies focused on sustainability in areas such as clean energy, healthcare, mobility and industry.
Investor groups, including Agility, Luxor Capital Group LP, and Zain Group, a mobile voice and data service operator in the Middle East and Africa, will invest an additional $100 million through private investment in public equity (PIPE), related to the deal, the sources said.
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