It's the last week of 2021—can you believe it?! It feels like just yesterday that we were all bringing in 2021 with such desperate hope that this year would be different from 2020. Now, as 2021 heads towards the exit door, I'm not even sure what to expect in 2022. Speaking of exits, 2021 had a lot of them. In terms of the public markets, specifically.
Almost oblivious to the chaos unfolding across the world, the Indian stock market had an extraordinary year, with more than US$15 billion raised through initial public offerings—a record. Out of that, around US$6 billion went to tech companies—again, unprecedented. The biggest of the lot was One97 Communications, the parent company of fintech giant Paytm, which raised US$2.5 billion. It was India's largest ever IPO.
Over in Southeast Asia, 2021 was a SPAC-tacular year. Well, at least the first half. SPACS, or special purpose acquisition companies, were all over the region like a rash when the year began. Super app Grab...umm...grabbed the biggest SPAC deal in the world, at a US$40 billion valuation. But just like how Paytm's IPO fizzled out after initial hype, so too did the SPAC craze.
With the new year on the horizon, we thought we'd look back on 2021's exits and IPOs in the first of four year-enders. This year, though, we're doing things differently. We don't have a long-form read for you. Instead, we have a crisp podcast