VinFast now plans $3-billion IPO in the US in second half 2022
Vietnamese carmaker VinFast, a unit of the country’s largest business conglomerate Vingroup, now has plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US in the second half of 2022 with a target to raise as much as $3 billion, the company said on December 4, indicating that it has postponed its initial plans to stage an IPO as early as this year.
To that end, Vingroup is currently restructuring the automobile division and will be transferring a 51.52-per cent stake in VinFast to a newly established Singapore-based holding company called VinFast Singapore.
After the transfer, Vingroup and the existing shareholders of VinFast Vietnam will own 100% of VinFast Singapore, which will own 99.9 per cent of VinFast Vietnam and will be the entity to be listed.
“The new company, VinFast Singapore, is a step to turn VinFast into a global company and prepare for its US IPO,” the company said in the statement, adding that “Vingroup will be a major shareholder of VinFast Singapore.”
Either SPAC or “traditional” IPO
The carmaker, which aims to roll out electric vehicles in the US, Canada and Europe next year, is working with investment banks to prepare for the IPO that would make VinFast one of the few Vietnamese companies to ever be traded in the US.
VinFast has not yet decided whether it would use as special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, for the listing pursue a traditional IPO, it said.
Reuters reported previously that Vingroup was in talks with investors, including Qatar’s sovereign fund Qatar Investment Authority and US investment giant BlackRock, to raise about $1 billion in equity pre-IPO for its car unit which would be Vietnam’s largest private fundraising so far.
Expectations are that VinFast would reach a post-IPO value of between $25 billion to $60 billion.
Battery leasing model as trump card
The company is betting big particularly on the US market, where it hopes that its electric sport utility vehicles combined with a battery leasing scheme would lure consumers away from competitors such as Tesla, General Motors and Rivian.
VinFast began delivering gasoline-powered autos to Vietnamese consumers with BMW-licensed engines in 2019. It sold about 30,000 vehicles last year in Vietnam and more than 25,500 units during the first nine months of this year, according to the company.
VinFast has not yet announced prices for its cars in the US. In Vietnam, its VF e34 electric SUV starts at 590.000.000 dong, or about $25,800. In comparison, Tesla’s electric SUV Model X currently has a base price of $58,990.
[caption id="attachment_37861" align="alignleft" width="300"] VinFast presents its electric SUVs at the Los Angeles Auto Show 2021 in November. Los Angeles will also be its US headquarters[/caption] Vietnamese carmaker VinFast, a unit of the country’s largest business conglomerate Vingroup, now has plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US in the second half of 2022 with a target to raise as much as $3 billion, the company said on December 4, indicating that it has postponed its initial plans to stage an IPO as early as this year. To that end, Vingroup is currently restructuring the automobile division and...
Vietnamese carmaker VinFast, a unit of the country’s largest business conglomerate Vingroup, now has plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US in the second half of 2022 with a target to raise as much as $3 billion, the company said on December 4, indicating that it has postponed its initial plans to stage an IPO as early as this year.
To that end, Vingroup is currently restructuring the automobile division and will be transferring a 51.52-per cent stake in VinFast to a newly established Singapore-based holding company called VinFast Singapore.
After the transfer, Vingroup and the existing shareholders of VinFast Vietnam will own 100% of VinFast Singapore, which will own 99.9 per cent of VinFast Vietnam and will be the entity to be listed.
“The new company, VinFast Singapore, is a step to turn VinFast into a global company and prepare for its US IPO,” the company said in the statement, adding that “Vingroup will be a major shareholder of VinFast Singapore.”
Either SPAC or “traditional” IPO
The carmaker, which aims to roll out electric vehicles in the US, Canada and Europe next year, is working with investment banks to prepare for the IPO that would make VinFast one of the few Vietnamese companies to ever be traded in the US.
VinFast has not yet decided whether it would use as special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, for the listing pursue a traditional IPO, it said.
Reuters reported previously that Vingroup was in talks with investors, including Qatar’s sovereign fund Qatar Investment Authority and US investment giant BlackRock, to raise about $1 billion in equity pre-IPO for its car unit which would be Vietnam’s largest private fundraising so far.
Expectations are that VinFast would reach a post-IPO value of between $25 billion to $60 billion.
Battery leasing model as trump card
The company is betting big particularly on the US market, where it hopes that its electric sport utility vehicles combined with a battery leasing scheme would lure consumers away from competitors such as Tesla, General Motors and Rivian.
VinFast began delivering gasoline-powered autos to Vietnamese consumers with BMW-licensed engines in 2019. It sold about 30,000 vehicles last year in Vietnam and more than 25,500 units during the first nine months of this year, according to the company.
VinFast has not yet announced prices for its cars in the US. In Vietnam, its VF e34 electric SUV starts at 590.000.000 dong, or about $25,800. In comparison, Tesla’s electric SUV Model X currently has a base price of $58,990.
