VinFast, the Nasdaq-listed Vietnamese electric-vehicle (EV) maker, will buy a real-estate company from its founder, billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, for about $1.2 billion, in order shore up its finances.

In a filing with the the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 16, VinFast said its subsidiary VinFast Vietnam signed agreements on September 15 to acquire 100 percent of Ngoc Hoi Real Estate Investment from Vuong and two minority shareholders. The consideration is VND30,857 billion ($1.2 billion), at a discount to an independent valuation of the shares.

Vuong, VinFast’s founder and the chairman of parent conglomerate Vingroup, owns a majority of Ngoc Hoi, making the purchase a related-party transaction.

VinFast said the acquisition would strengthen its financial position and generate additional earnings and cash flow from real estate. The move can complement VinFast’s core EV business as the project would let it build its EV and green-mobility ecosystem into a large-scale smart city from the planning stage.

Ngoc Hoi holds a 20 percent economic interest in a consortium developing the Hanoi International Sports Urban Area, a 9,200-hectare integrated urban project in Hanoi. The project also features under-construction VinFast stadium, a 135,000-seat multi-purpose stadium.

Besides, VinFast said Vuong would contribute up to VND10,000 billion ($396.7 million) to subsidiary VinFast Vietnam by the end of 2026, to strengthen the unit’s capital base.

The Ngoc Hoi acquisition is VinFast’s second push into real estate. In a 2025 filing, VinFast disclosed that VFTP, then its manufacturing subsidiary, had agreed to contribute up to VND20,700 billion ($826 million) to a partnership with Saigon Glory. In a restructure in June, VinFast sold VFTP to a alliance related to Vuong.

Saigon Glory is the developer of an ongoing stalled luxury complex in Ho Chi Minh City.

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