Vietnam EV maker VinFast files for US$2b US IPO

[HANOI] VinFast has filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US as the Vietnamese electric vehicle maker starts building a factory in North Carolina.

The unit of conglomerate Vingroup has lodged its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a statement on its website on Thursday (Apr 7). The company said it hasn't decided on the size of the offering.

The biggest carmaker in Vietnam has been working with advisers on the US listing in the second half of this year, it said in a statement in December. The share sale could raise about US$2 billion, Bloomberg News has reported.

At US$2 billion, VinFast's IPO would be the biggest ever by a Vietnamese company after Vinhomes' US$1.4 billion first-time share sale in 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. If successful, the carmaker would also become one of the few Vietnamese companies to list in the US.

A listing comes as VinFast plans to open an EV factory in North Carolina, which could become operational in 2024. The plant is the first phase of a planned complex in the US that would have a total investment of as much as US$6 billion.

US President Joe Biden tweeted a White House statement about VinFast's North Carolina plans, which it called a US$4 billion investment that would create more than 7,000 jobs.

VinFast aims to start delivering cars in the US, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands in late 2022. Prices for its VF8 and VF9 electric SUVs will range from US$41,000 to US$61,000. VinFast began domestic deliveries of its first electric cars in December.

Separately, VinFast is exploring a funding round to raise US$500 million to US$1 billion ahead of its US IPO, Bloomberg News reported last month. BLOOMBERG