(Bloomberg) -- Turmeric Capital, an investment firm led by former L Catterton Asia head Ravi Thakran, is exploring listing a special purpose acquisition company in Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Singapore-based buyout firm is working with an adviser on the potential SPAC initial public offering, said the people, who asked not to be named as the process is private. The blank-check firm could raise about S$300 million ($221 million) and Thakran will be its chairman and chief executive officer, one of the people said.
Turmeric Capital hasn't finalized the size and timeline of the share sale, pending listing guidelines by Singapore's exchange, the people added.
Singapore Exchange has completed a market consultation about listing SPACs and the framework is “undergoing regulatory approval,” Chief Executive Officer Loh Boon Chye said last week. The regulator consulted the market earlier this year and has proposed requirements including a minimum S$300 million market capitalization threshold for listing a blank-check company.
Turmeric will be joining Novo Tellus Capital Partners, a technology and industrials-focused private equity firm and Temasek Holdings Pte's Vertex Holdings Ltd. in seeking to be among the first to set up a blank-check company in Singapore. Any listings would benefit the city-state's bourse, which has seen just three IPOs raising $242 million in total this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Thakran founded L Capital Asia in 2009, the Asian private equity venture of LVMH. L Capital Asia merged with Catterton to form L Catterton in 2016. Thakran led the buyout firm's Asia arm.
Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp., a U.S. SPAC backed by Thakran, raised $225 million in an IPO in Sept. 2020. The blank-check firm last month merged with private jet charter company Wheels Up. The private equity veteran in February filed another IPO for Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. II SPAC to raise about $300 million. He told the Business Times earlier this year that he would be keen to set up a blank-check company in Singapore should the regulator introduce such structures.
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