Anthony Tan, CEO of Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab, said on Sunday that he was confident of completing the merger of Grab with a US special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) by the end of the year, which had been delayed due to a financial review.

The Singapore-based startup announced last week that it would postpone the completion of its deal with Altimeter Growth Corp. Until the fourth quarter because of an audit of its finances over the past three years. The merger of Grab and Altimeter could value it at nearly $40 billion, making it one of the largest SPAC deals to date.

"We decided to take the initiative," Tan said on Sunday. We want to set standards for transparent financial reporting. It may take a little longer than we expected. "

Asked if he expected Grab to make a significant financial restatement after the financial audit, Tan, 39, declined to comment.

He did not rule out a secondary listing in Singapore, Grab's home market, saying the company would consider all options. But he said Grab would "focus" on merging Nasdaq through Altimeter.be listed.

The CEO also said that Grab had considered a traditional initial public offering (IPO), but chose to trade with Altimeter after seeing the commitment of its SPAC partners.