Factbox: Vietnam firms that have launched or sought overseas IPOs

Society Pass

24/08/2023 09:23

By Khanh Vu and Phuong Nguyen
       HANOI, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Vietnamese internet company
VNG Corp  VNZ.HNO  has filed for an initial public offering
(IPO) in the United States via VNG Ltd. VNG's IPO attempt
follows the August 15 Nasdaq listing debut by VinFast  VFS.O 
which has vaulted 254% since its debut to $37.03. 
    The surge in VinFast could help to add momentum for other
companies in the Southeast Asian country seeking IPOs in the
U.S.
    Here's a look at some prominent Vietnamese companies having
launched or sought overseas IPOs.
    
    VINFAST 
    The Vietnamese electric vehicle maker, founded in 2017 by
Vietnam's richest man Pham Nhat Vuong, listed on Nasdaq on Aug.
15 via a merger with a blank-check company, ending its two-year
journey attempting to go public in the United States, where it
started to sell cars in March. 
    On the listing day, VinFast's market capitalisation closed
at $85 billion, almost double Ford's  F.N  market capitalisation
of $48 billion and more than three times higher than its pre-IPO
value of $23 billion. 
    The company's founder is the beneficial owner of more than
99% of its 2.3 billion ordinary shares after the merger. The car
maker said it was likely to raise money from global investors
within 18 months.
    VinFast is a unit of Vietnam's largest conglomerate Vingroup
 VIC.HM , whose businesses spread across real estate and resorts
to automobiles. 

    VNG
    Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered VNG said in the filing that
it planned to offer some 21.7 million shares.
    Two sources with knowledge of the matter said the company
was looking to raise $150 million in the listing, with the
trading debut expected to be at end-September or October. 
    Founded in 2004, VNG is Vietnam's first unicorn, or startup
valued at $1 billion or more, and it inked a preliminary
agreement in 2017 with U.S. bourse operator Nasdaq Inc to
explore an IPO.
    The company's businesses include online games, payments,
cloud services and Vietnam's most popular messaging app, Zalo.
Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Bank of America are
underwriters of the IPO, according to the filing.
    VNG reported a net loss of 40 billion dong ($1.67 million)
in the first half of 2023, narrowing from a loss of 510 billion
dong in the same period last year. Its market capitalisation
stood at $1.678 billion as of Thursday.
    
        
    THE CROWNX
    Vietnam's biggest retail company, The CrownX, a unit of
conglomerate Masan Group, last year flagged it was considering
an IPO in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore or Vietnam, in 18 to 24
months. 
    The company's valuation at the time was $8.2 billion.       
 
    At its parent company Masan's latest general meeting in
April, the company told its shareholders The CrownX would
postpone the listing to 2024 or 2025, due to unfavourable market
conditions.
    The CrownX was formed in 2019 through a merger of Masan's
food and beverage unit and Vingroup's retail units and high-tech
farms.
    
     
    TIKI
    Ho Chi Minh City-based e-commerce platform Tiki was seeking
to launch an IPO in the United States by 2025, possibly via a
SPAC, state media reported last year, citing its CEO. 
    No further details about the IPO plan have been publicly
announced since. 
    The company, founded in 2010 and inspired by Amazon,
competes with Singapore-headquartered Sea Ltd's  SE.N 
e-commerce business Shopee and Alibaba  9988.HK -backed Lazada
in the Vietnamese market.
    
    BAMBOO AIRWAYS
    Vietnam's Bamboo Airways chairman said in 2021 the company
planned to raise up to $200 million in an initial public
offering in the United States, potentially securing a market
capitalisation of up to $4 billion.
    Its then chairman Trinh Van Quyet said in an interview in
2021 the airline would offer a 5-7% stake in the IPO, adding
that it was working with an international auditing firm for the
potential offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
    Bamboo Airlines, however, has been facing financial
difficulties since Quyet was arrested in March last year on
suspicion of manipulating the stock market.
    The airlines reported a net loss of 17.6 trillion dong 
($733.94 million) last year, widening from a loss of 2.28
trillion a year earlier.
    
      
    CAVICO
    Infrastructure development and mining company Cavico Corp,
founded in 2000, listed its shares on Nasdaq in September 2008,
becoming the first Vietnamese firm to list on the U.S. stock
market, according to its statement on its website. 
    However, in July 2011, the Hanoi-based company's shares were
delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange as it no longer met the
bourse's continued listing requirement, Nasdaq said in a
statement.
    
    SOCIETY PASS
    Society Pass made its debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange in
November 2021, local media reported. 
    The firm raised $26 million in gross proceeds from the IPO
that was priced at $9.00 per share, Refinitiv data showed. The
firm operates a commerce, customer loyalty and related analytics
platform for merchants in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. 
    Its market capitalisation is $11.68 million as of Thursday,
according to Refinitiv data. 
   ($1 = 23,980 dong)

 (Reporting by Khanh Vu and Phuong Nguyen; Editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
 ((khanh.vu@thomsonreuters.com; +84 24 38259623;))