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Carousell Walks From $1.5B L Catterton SPAC After 18-Month Negotiation
Singapore's largest classifieds platform shelves public-market ambitions as blank-cheque window closes across Asia-Pacific.
Markets Edge deskMarkets Edge · Huang GoodmanSource: Strait Times ↗
In plain words
Carousell's SPAC exit marks the **24th** Asia-Pacific blank-cheque collapse since late 2022, tightening the exit corridor for unprofitable consumer platforms.
$1.5 billion
in early-stage term sheets
40 percent
discount to the company's
$2.5 billion
private valuation implied during its Series D extension in…
$360 million
in its January 2021 IPO and now trades at
Carousell terminated merger negotiations with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp after eighteen months of talks, according to three people familiar with the matter. The deal valued the Singapore-based classifieds marketplace at approximately $1.5 billion in early-stage term sheets, a 40 percent discount to the company's $2.5 billion private valuation implied during its Series D extension in late 2021. L Catterton's SPAC raised $360 million in its January 2021 IPO and now trades at $9.84 per share, 1.6 percent below the $10.00 trust redemption floor.
The collapse follows a pattern: 23 Asia-Pacific SPAC mergers have been abandoned since Q4 2022, per SPAC Research data, with an average time-to-termination of 16.2 months from initial announcement. Carousell never formally announced the L Catterton deal, keeping negotiations private while the blank-cheque market deteriorated. L Catterton Asia Acquisition has 11 months remaining before its November 2025 liquidation deadline and has not filed for an extension. The SPAC's sponsor, LVMH-backed L Catterton, has $34 billion in assets under management but has completed only one of its three Asia-Pacific SPAC mergers since 2021.
Carousell's decision reflects a structural reset in private-market pricing discipline. The company operates classifieds platforms across eight markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, claiming 300 million listings and 56 million monthly active users as of Q3 2024. Revenue grew 22 percent year-over-year in 2023 to approximately $180 million, but the business remains unprofitable with an EBITDA margin of negative 14 percent, per two people with knowledge of the financials. Traditional IPO markets in Singapore and Hong Kong demand profitability or a clear path within 12 months, a threshold Carousell has not met. The SPAC route offered valuation flexibility and a faster timeline, but redemption rates on recent Asia SPAC mergers averaged 87 percent, leaving surviving companies with $40-60 million in net proceeds after fees—insufficient to justify the public-company expense structure.
Allocators should monitor three developments over the next six months. First, whether Carousell pursues a down-round private raise to extend runway; the company has 18-24 months of cash at current burn, per one person familiar with the balance sheet. Second, L Catterton's next steps with its SPAC—whether it hunts a replacement target or returns capital to shareholders ahead of the November deadline. Third, the nine remaining Asia-Pacific SPACs with deals pending, six of which face liquidation deadlines before Q2 2025. Each termination reinforces the re-pricing cycle in private growth equity and compresses the exit timeline for venture-backed consumer platforms.
L Catterton Asia Acquisition shares fell 2.1 percent in after-hours trading on no official news, suggesting informed flow ahead of formal disclosure.
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For the principal
Track remaining Asia SPAC liquidation deadlines; six expire by Q2 2025, creating forced-sale opportunities in private secondaries.
For the operator
Carousell's walk signals vendor re-pricing discipline; expect 15-25 percent haircuts on 2021-vintage consumer-tech Series D rounds.
For the house
Short remaining Asia SPAC commons trading above $10.10; redeploy proceeds to distressed venture secondaries at 0.4-0.5x last-round.
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