Vietnam’s largest auto group VinFast said its Singapore-based holding company had filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of the group in the US.
VinFast Trading & Investment Pte. Ltd announced on Thursday it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form F-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed IPO of its ordinary shares.
“The size and price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined. The IPO is expected to take place after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions,” VinFast said in a statement.
“There are options to look at. We are still considering a lot of options,” VinFast Chief Executive Le Thi Thu Thuy told reporters on the sidelines of an event, Reuters reported.
Vinfast, a unit of Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate Vingroup, announced last week it had signed a preliminary deal to initially invest $2 billion to build a factory in North Carolina, US to make electric buses, sport utility vehicles and batteries for electric vehicles.
She reportedly said the IPO is planned for the second half of this year and is one option to fund the North Carolina plant and US expansion.
Vinfast was considering an IPO a year ago which could value the company at about $60 billion, Reuters reported, quoting sources. Such valuation now “looks stretched in current markets”, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
VinFast also announced in January it is looking for an EV production site in Germany. StoreDot, an Israeli extreme fast charging (XFC) battery firm, announced in the same month the first close of its Series D funding round of up to $80 million, led by VinFast.
Founded in 2017, VinFast, a member of Vingroup, is headquartered in Hanoi. The carmaker boasts a vehicle production facility in Haiphong, Vietnam, that will have the capacity to produce 950,000 vehicles per year by 2026.
The company has established global operations in the US, Canada, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The company currently provides an ecosystem of EV products in its home country of Vietnam, including e-scooters, electric buses and electric cars, charging station systems and green energy solutions.
Established in 1993, Vingroup is one of the leading private conglomerates in the region, with a total capitalization of $35 billion from three publicly traded companies, as of Nov 4, 2021). Vingroup currently focuses on three main areas: Technology and Industry, Services and Social Enterprise.