Vietnam-based electric vehicle maker VinFast may see its initial public offering in the US delayed till next year due to market uncertainty, Reuters reported, quoting its parent company Vingroup chairman.
“We are eyeing a Q4 IPO, but there are lots of ongoing market uncertainties now… If necessary we may delay it to next year,” Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong was quoted as saying at the company’s annual general meeting. “The IPO is not just for fundraising. It’s also about marketing and claiming VinFast’s position globally.”
The IPO is planned for the fourth quarter of this year. VinFast’s Singapore-based holding company had filed for an IPO with the US securities regulators, according to earlier reports last month. The IPO’s news came as the company plans to build a factory in the US which requires investments of up to $4 billion.
Widely considered as the main benchmark for US stock market performance, the S&P 500 fell 13.3 percent through April, the steepest four-month drop to start any year since 1939, Reuters reported. The index continues to fall in May and was down 16 percent year-to-date as of Tuesday’s close.
For the Nasdaq Composite, which is heavier on technology shares, the fall has been more severe, declining about 25 percent so far this year.
Vuong sought to reassure shareholders its auto unit would go ahead with the IPO “no matter how uncertain the market”, according to the report.
Vinfast was considering an IPO a year ago which could value the company at about $60 billion, Reuters reported earlier, quoting sources. But such valuation “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 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.