Singapore-based online luxury marketplace Reebonz is slated list on NASDAQ, following its merger with US-based Draper Oakwood Technology Acquisition (DOTA).
DOTA said on Wednesday that it had received shareholders approval to merge with Reebonz.
Subsequent to the merger, both DOTA and Reebonz have become wholly-owned subsidiaries of a newly created Cayman Islands exempted company called Reebonz Holding Ltd (RBZ).
The deal gives Reebonz an enterprise value of about $252 million.
Draper Oakwood, a special purpose acquisition company, which trades on the NASDAQ as “DOTA”, had in 2017 raised $57.5 million in an IPO.
As per the deal, RBZ has issued 17,318,294 ordinary shares to the prior security holders of Reebonz. This will lead to the existing Reebonz shareholders getting around 75 per cent of the shares in the newly formed entity (RBZ). It has also applied for listing of its ordinary shares and warrants on NASDAQ under the ticker “RBZ”.
This newly formed entity – RBZ – will be led by Reebonz’s current management. Its current CEO and co-founder Samuel Lim has become the chairman and chief executive of RBZ.
Reebonz backers include prominent venture capital investors, strategic investors and individuals such as Vertex Ventures, GGV Capital, Intel Capital, Matrix Partners China, Mediacorp, SGInnovate, FengHe Group, OCBC Bank, All Star Investments managing partner and chief investment officer Richard Ji, and Morningside Venture Capital managing director Richard Liu, amongst others.
“We are thankful to our shareholders, partners and customers for supporting us in our journey and in achieving this milestone. Over the course of the past decade, Reebonz has established itself as one of the leading brands in luxury ecommerce, building a unique ecosystem for our members.
“This transaction provides Reebonz access to the public markets to facilitate our growth strategy. We expect the merger with DOTA to create long-term value for our shareholders,” said Lim.
DOTA’s executive chairman Rod Perry said Reebonz will deliver “outstanding growth” in Asia over the next few years.
“The online luxury retail space is fast becoming its own category with multi-billion dollar market cap players emerging. We believe that Reebonz’s senior management team is a leader in this space and can combine the benefits of a Nasdaq listing with its multi-channel business model and existing market leadership in several Asian fast-growing markets to become a dominant player in the category. This we believe is a rare opportunity for investors to have public market access to a technology company entering its period of fastest growth,” he said.
Founded in 2009 by Samuel, Daniel Lim and Benjamin Han, Reebonz operates an online marketplace and platform for buying and selling new and pre-owned luxury products in Asia Pacific. It claims to have attracted over 5.5 million members, with over 350 employees and business operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, South Korea, China, and the US.
In 2017, Reebonz said it had achieved S$349 million ($255 million) in gross merchandise value. It works with over 1,000 brands and 172 boutiques as well as C2C marketplaces that enable individuals to sell through Reebonz’s platform. Last June, Bloomberg reported that it is planning to raise as much as $150 million to fuel its business expansion in China, Japan and South Korea.
Also read:
SE Asia’s largest online luxury retailer Reebonz to raise up to $150m