Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company founded by a Qatari Sultan al-Maadeed, has listed its newly acquired Babylon Holdings Limited in the New York Stock Exchange.

This makes al-Maadeed the first Qatari and Gulf national to establish an American company to be listed on the American stock exchange. The Babylon Holdings Limited has been listed under the ticker symbol ‘BBLN’.

The listing of Babylon, which provides clinical consultations and artificial-intelligence interactions, comes in the wake of rapid progress across its business segments, making it one of the fastest growing digital health companies going public this year.

"Babylon is one of the most exciting stories in healthcare and technology, and we're pleased to help them on what we believe will be a truly difference-making path as a public company," said Alkuri chief executive Rich Williams.

Alkuri's shareholders in October approved the combination in a deal that provided Babylon with proceeds of about $460mn, including cash held in Alkuri's trust account.

At a special meeting held in October 2021, the Alkuri stockholders approved the business combination, including the merger agreement, by and among Babylon Holdings, Alkuri Global Acquisition, Liberty USA Merger Sub, Inc., Alkuri Sponsors, and Dr. Ali Parsadoust, chief executive and founder of Babylon, and the related agreements and transactions contemplated thereby.

"We believe we have delivered an incredibly attractive entry point for a category-defining business in a $10tn global sector that, in our view, is in the earliest stages of its technology revolution," Williams said, adding the potential rewards from this merger with Babylon would extend far beyond the economics.

"As we start the next part of our journey as a public company, we believe we are only just getting started as we look to re-engineer every touch point in the healthcare continuum," said the chief executive of Babylon, which grew its revenues by 394% from 2020 to 2021, and by 472% for the half year ended June 30, 2021.

NASDAQ-listed Alkuri Global Acquisition was incorporated as a Delaware corporation, whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganisation or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which it refers to as initial business combination.

Believing that there are many target entities which could become attractive public firms, the company said its target sectors are in the disruptive technology, broadly with a spotlight on consumer internet and marketplaces, healthtech, fintech and mobility.

The company, which already has institutions on the share registry, focuses on identifying potential target firms with above-industry-average growth, and a defensible market position with an enterprise value in excess of $750mn, where its management team’s operational, strategic or managerial expertise can assist in maximising value.

Related Story