Investors in VinFast's SPAC cash out most shares (updated)
14/07/2023 12:00
(Adds detail on planned merger in paragraphs 5-12)
HANOI, July 14 (Reuters) - Shareholders of Black Spade
Acquisition BSAQ.A , a special purpose acquisition company
(SPAC) that has plans to merge with Vietnam's electric automaker
VinFast to allow a U.S. listing, have redeemed over 80% of their
shares, the company said on Friday.
The move represents a new setback for the startup, which had
initially planned a U.S. listing on its own and has struggled to
start production and ramp up sales outside Vietnam.
The Hong Kong-based SPAC's shareholders have not yet voted
on the proposed merger with VinFast, but have exercised their
right to redeem shares by Tuesday this week.
Black Spade Acquisition (BSA) said that redemptions amounted
to approximately $147 million. "Following the redemption (...),
the amount of funds remaining in the trust account is
approximately $28.56 million," the SPAC said in a statement.
NYSE-listed BSA was founded by the private investment arm of
Lawrence Ho, the son of gambling mogul Stanley Ho. As the SPAC's
planned timeframe for striking a deal drew towards its end, BSA
announced in May a surprise merger plan with VinFast to list the
carmaker in the New York Stock Exchange.
The SPAC had initially sought to merge with a company
ideally in the entertainment business, according to its website.
In a new twist, a month later BSA delisted from NYSE and
joined the secondary NYSE American, a market for smaller-cap
companies that has tended to have lower liquidity.
VinFast, which was founded in 2017 and began selling
electric vehicles in California this year, previously filed for
an initial public offering in the U.S. to list on the Nasdaq
under ticker symbol "VFS" in December last year, aiming for a
valuation of about $60 billion.
The company did not immediately reply to a request for
comment.
The new merged entity was estimated by VinFast and BSA to
have a potential equity value of $23 billion.
On Thursday, the SPAC's remaining shareholders voted to
extend its lifespan by one year, about a week before the end of
its original two-year term.
BSA had no immediate additional comment.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, Phuong Nguyen
and Kevin Krolicki
Editing by David Evans and Mark Potter)
((Francesco.Guarascio@thomsonreuters.com;))