Singapore SPAC Vertex Tech to buy streaming platform for up to $676 mln (updated)

17LIVE

02/10/2023 04:44

(Updates with detail on deal, performance of streaming
platform, and CEO comment)
       Oct 2 (Reuters) - Singapore's Vertex Technology
Acquisition Corp (VTAC)  VERT.SI  will buy live streaming
platform 17LIVE Inc for up to S$925.1 million (about $676
million), the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed
by state investor Temasek said on Monday.
    The pro-forma equity value of the proposed deal will be up
to S$1.16 billion, VTAC said.
    17LIVE had just over half a million average monthly active
users in the first half of fiscal 2023 and counts Japan and
Taiwan as its key markets.
    It generated revenue of $363.7 million in 2022.
    "We see 17LIVE as a company at its inflection point, backed
by a strong management bench," VTAC Chief Executive Jiang Hong
Hui said.
    VTAC will issue up to 160.6 million new shares at S$5.00
each and another 24.4 million new shares once certain financial
targets are met.
    VTAC said it expects the necessary approvals to complete the
deal by the end of 2023 after which the company will be renamed
17LIVE Group Ltd and trade on the Singapore stock exchange.
 
 ($1 = 1.3682 Singapore dollars)

 (Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by
Savio D'Souza)
 ((Adwitiya.Srivastava@thomsonreuters.com;))