Babylon to Go Public in $4.2B SPAC Deal

The London-based health technology company will be going public as part of a deal with Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp.

Babylon, the London-based health technology company, announced Thursday morning that it will go public as part of a $4.2 billion special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal.

Babylon's debut on Wall Street will occur as part of a transaction with Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp., a Nashville-based SPAC. 

The SPAC deal is the latest strategic development for Babylon, which added three U.S.-based members will be added to its C-suite and expanded its value-based care model in California this spring.

In March, Business Insider reported that sources indicated Babylon was considering a SPAC deal in 2021.

Going public through a SPAC transaction has become an increasingly popular business strategy over the past year, including for healthcare companies.

Clover Health, the Nashville-based technology-oriented Medicare Advantage company, went public in January following a $3.7 billion SPAC merger in October with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. III, led by billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya.

Additionally, both Sharecare Inc., a digital health startup, and 23andMe, announced plans to go public via SPAC deals in February.

Dr. Ali Parsa, CEO of Babylon, heralded the SPAC announcement as "another step" in the company's journey.

"We founded Babylon on a fundamental belief, that it is possible to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every person on earth by combining the latest in technology and the best in medical expertise," Parsa said in a statement. "We have achieved one of the highest growth rates every year since our inception, with consistently high clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. Becoming a public company is just another step in our journey. We are at the very beginning of our work to re-imagine our sector, to make it digital-first and prevention-first and shift the focus away from sick care to true health care."