Vietnam's VinaCapital weighing Singapore SPAC IPO next year

[HANOI] VinaCapital, a Vietnamese asset manager, is exploring setting up a blank-check company to list in Singapore next year, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The investment firm is working with an adviser on a potential initial public offering that could raise as much as S$250 million, said the people who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The company has held discussions with the regulator on the prospective offering, the people said.

VinaCapital would join the candidates seeking to be among the first to list a special purpose acquisition company in Singapore.

Novo Tellus Capital Partners, Tikehau Capital and Vertex Holdings are preparing to lodge their prospectuses as early as next week, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Singapore health-care-focused private equity fund Quadria Capital is exploring a potential blank-check company listing, people familiar with the matter said. Turmeric Capital is also weighing launching a SPAC.

Deliberations are ongoing and there is no certainty that VinaCapital will proceed with the listing, said the people. A representative for VinaCapital declined to comment, while Quadria Capital didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Any listings would benefit the island republic's equities market, which hosted just eight first-time share sales so far this year, raising US$1 billion in total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest offering in 2021 comes from Digital Core REIT Management, which raked in US$600 million.

VinaCapital, founded in 2003, has about US$3.7 billion of assets under management and 170 staff, according to its website. The company manages one closed-end fund listed on the London Stock Exchange, as well as several other open-ended and domestic funds.

BLOOMBERG