Award-winning global financial institution, ARC Group, together with its PR and communications partner The IBR Asia Group, held a media luncheon on 13 May 2024 at the Ringgit Room 2 in St Regis Hotel Kuala Lumpur. The purpose of the luncheon was to introduce ARC Group and some of its key personnel to journalists in Malaysia. In addition, attendees were invited to register for ARC Group’s upcoming Capital Markets & M&A Forum on 15 May 2024 at EQ Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
ARC Group co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Abraham Cinta, kicked off the session by giving a short presentation on the founding and achievements of the company. He explained how ARC Group was founded to help companies in Asia venture to overseas capital markets, particularly in the United States. He also spoke on how ARC Group became a leading champion of SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) and revealed that Malaysia played a key role in that, as one of the first SPACs it was involved in was from Malaysia. In addition, Cinta highlighted that Malaysia is currently the second largest market for ARC Group, accounting for 30% of its business.
The next speaker at the media luncheon was Datuk Seri Paul Chong – ARC Group’s Venture Partner. Popularly known as “Saint SPAC”, Datuk Seri Paul gave insights into the SPAC process and why it is so attractive to companies seeking listing compared with initial public offerings (IPOs). These include lower costs and faster transition times. Datuk Seri Paul Chong also highlighted that one of the key attractions of the US capital markets is its looser listing rules. Giving Grab as an example, he revealed that Grab was initially turned down for listing in the ACE markets of Bursa Malaysia as it had not turned a profit. As a result, it eventually went for a SPAC on NASDAQ with a valuation of US$40 billion – the largest in history.
