VNG considers going public in a $3 billion SPAC merger

August 13, 2021 | 14:22

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Vietnam's first unicorn VNG is mulling to list in the US through a reverse merger involving a special purpose acquisition company.

VNG considers going public in a $3 billion SPAC merger

The potential deal could value VNG at $2-3 billion ($86,960-130,430)

VNG is holding discussions with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) for a potential deal overseas. A representative of VNG said no decision on an initial public offering (IPO) or SPAC has been made or approved, and otherwise declined to comment.

However, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that VNG is holding discussions with financial advisers for this. They said the transaction could value VNG at $2-3 billion ($86,960-130,430), asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

In 2017, VNG and Nasdaq – the United States’ second-largest stock exchange – signed an MoU to explore VNG’s IPO opportunities on the Nasdaq. Both sides were optimistic about the outlook of Vietnam’s first unicorn tapping into the US equity market for capital, but no official agreement has been reached yet. In fact, VNG has not even applied for listing on Nasdaq yet and the stock market has not determined whether VNG meets its requirements.

With this move, VNG will join other Southeast Asian firms in seeking US listings through SPAC mergers. These include Grab, which is going public through a $40 billion SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth Corporation in the fourth quarter. In July, Singapore's online real estate firm PropertyGuru Pte. also agreed to go public through a SPAC merger with Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd. Meanwhile, Indonesia's Traveloka is in talks to raise funds for a listing via the same channel.

By Thanh Van

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