USA: VinFast teams up with Black Spade Acquisition for IPO

The Vietnamese electric car manufacturer VinFast is headed to Wall Street. VinFast has therefore agreed to a business combination with exchange shell Black Spade Acquisition.

++ This article has been updated. Please continue reading below. ++

“The partnership with Black Spade and listing of VinFast in the US represents the perfect capital raising avenue for our future global ambitions and is also an important accomplishment for Vingroup”, says Thuy Le, Global CEO of VinFast Auto.

VinFast is seeking a valuation of at least $23 billion through its New York Stock Exchange listing. The Vietnamese EV maker only recently secured up to $2.5 billion in capital to drive its global expansion.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023 and is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions. VinFast’s IPO would therefore go through about a year later than planned. Initially, VinFast wanted to be listed on the US stock exchange in the second half of 2022 and even filed for IPO in April last year.

SPACs are investment companies founded precisely for the purpose of merging with another company, hence the term “special-purchase acquisition company” (SPAC). Since in the case of VinFast the merger partner is already listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol BSAQ, the IPO is thus significantly accelerated. A traditional IPO in the USA can take up to two years.

VinFast currently has four EV models on offer for its customers in Vietnam: VF e34, VF 8, VF 9 and VF 5. The VF 8 is also available in the US. In March, the carmaker kicked off deliveries for its VF 8 City Edition all-electric SUV in California. Plans for a US factory have currently been put on ice.

Update 02 August 2023

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to VinFast’s planned IPO. The Vietnamese carmaker expects a valuation of 27 billion US dollars (currently 24.6 billion euros); when the announcement was made in May, there was still talk of at least 23 billion US dollars (20.9 billion euros) – VinFast has thus adjusted the value upwards. The merger with the Black Spade Acquisition shell is expected to be completed in August 2023, followed by the listing. Subject to shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions, of course.

The August IPO announcement comes shortly after VinFast broke ground on its first US plant. The factory, located in Chatham County, North Carolina, is expected to be operational in 2025 and will initially produce the VF 7, VF 8 and VF 9 models with an annual capacity of 150,000 electric cars.

vinfastauto.us, vinfastauto.us (update)