Malaysia’s AirAsia’s parent company, Capital A, is in the early stages of a $1bn business combination merger with Aetherium Acquisition Corp, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) listed on Nasdaq.
The merger aims to create Capital A International, a publicly traded brand management and investment company focusing on aviation, travel, hospitality, and digital technologies.
The merger is subject to regulatory approvals and will be detailed in a definitive agreement in the future.
CEO Tony Fernandes said: “This is a coming-of-age moment for Capital A, which has morphed from AirAsia into a low-cost, value-driven aviation and travel services group in five entities, the first of which that’s coming to the public market would be Capital A International. We are taking the first step to venture out of our home ground, which is ASEAN, and exploring listing on the pinnacle of markets in terms of capital raising. We are confident that the exposure to the US financial markets and Nasdaq listing would help us accelerate the delivery of our strategy as we improve access to capital, broaden our shareholder base, and meaningfully raise our profile globally.”
