Mobile Social Company Asia Innovations Group to Go Public in US via SPAC Merger

On September 30, Asia Innovations Group Limited (AIG), a Singapore-based mobile app developer, announced that it had signed a business merger agreement with Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited (NYSE: OPA), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The company expects to list in the US in the first quarter of next year.

The proposed business combination transaction provides for an equity valuation of $2.5 billion for the combined company. The proposed transaction represents the largest consumer Internet SPAC merger announced year to date in 2022. Upon completion of the proposed business combination, the merged company will be named “Asia Innovations Group Limited.” Its common shares are expected to be listed under the proposed new symbol “ASIG” and will take effect once the proposed business merger is completed.

Estimated gross transaction proceeds are expected to total $200 million in cash from OPA’s IPO proceeds held in trust (assuming no redemptions), plus up to $150 million from a contemplated post-announcement capital raise, totaling $350 million. These funds will be used to promote AIG’s sustained and rapid growth, expand its user base and invest in acquisitions.

AIG was established in 2013 by Andy Tian. He co-founded one of the world’s earliest social app companies in 2008, which he sold to Zynga in 2010 to become Zynga China. Tian then served as general manager and led the firm’s expansion efforts. Another co-founder, Ouyang Yun, is also the founder and former COO of GaoPeng (Groupon China) and Deputy General Manager of Tencent‘s corporate strategy department.

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AIG is an integrated mobile Internet ecological platform covering social apps and mobile games while also offering an e-commerce platform and payment services.Its main products include Uplive, the world’s leading video social platform, CuteU and Lamour, the leading social dating apps in emerging markets, and Hekka, a fast-growing cross-border e-commerce platform.

Since its establishment, AIG has undergone several rounds of financing. Investors have included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), MSA Capital, Index Venture, White Star Capital, and others. It has also attracted participation by individual investors such as Hugo Barra, the founder and CEO of Detect, Mike Krieger, the former CTO and co-founder of Instagram, Daniel Alegre, the president and COO of Activision Blizzard, and Shishir Mehrotra, the former CPO/CTO of YouTube.

As of December 31, 2021, AIG has more than 400 million registered users, coming from 150 countries and regions including Asia-Pacific, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, North America and South America. According to market research firm Sensor Tower, CuteU and Lamour ranked second and fourth respectively in the downloads of Android global dating apps in 2021.

In emerging markets, the penetration rate of mobile and social application markets is still relatively low, and the local GDP shows a trend of higher growth. At the same time, under the influence of the pandemic, the trend of user activity and usage time of AIG’s products shows a continuous upward trend. Among them, in 2021, active users used Uplive for more than 62 minutes on average every day.