(1/3)People walk past a VinFast logo on a display during press day at the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Purchase license rights
HANOI/SINGAPORE Aug 15 (Reuters) – VinFast shares (VFS.O) soared in reduced trading in its Nasdaq debut on Tuesday following the backdoor listing of the $23 billion Vietnamese EV maker, as the startup said it was likely to raise money from global investors within 18 months. .
The stock opened at $22, more than double the $10 per share agreed with Black Spade Acquisition, VinFast’s SPAC partner. (BSAQ.A) which had valued VinFast at $23 billion.
It rose further during the session, ending at $37.06 and valuing the EV maker, which has not posted a profit, at $85 billion, more than Ford. (FN) market capitalization at $48 billion and General Motors’ (GM.N) Stock market value of $46 billion.
About $185 million worth of company stock was traded, according to Refinitiv data.
The merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) gave Vinfast a listing in a market where founder Pham Nhat Vuong hopes to take on industry leader Tesla. (TSLA.O) with a $4 billion factory under construction and a new sales approach to attract distributors.
Vuong, the richest man in Vietnam, is the beneficial owner of 99% of VinFast’s 2.3 billion common shares after the merger through his flagship company and subsidiaries.
“We have a number of strategic investors and institutional investors lined up. We hope to formulate some sort of capital raise in the next 18 months for sure,” VinFast chief financial officer David Mansfield told Reuters.
VinFast has shipped nearly 3,000 vehicles to North America since late last year, but initial sales have been slow. S&P Global Mobility says only 137 Vinfast EVs had been registered in the United States as of June.
“The Street has all eyes on the leaders in this next frontier with many winners, along with Tesla, in this green tidal wave of electric vehicles that unfolds over the next few years,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said the company was changing its distribution model, which had been based on Tesla’s direct-to-consumer approach, and hoped to partner with dealers in foreign markets.
“We are moving to a hybrid model where we have our own showrooms, as well as talking to dealers to open showrooms,” Thuy said in an interview with Reuters.
VinFast was formed as a unit of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup (VIC.HM). Vuong, Vingroup and their affiliates had invested $9.3 billion in the electric vehicle maker, according to a June filing. vuong fiance $2.5 billion in April to boost the electric vehicle maker, including $1 billion from his personal fortune.
VinFast’s first-quarter revenue fell 49% from a year earlier, and it posted a net loss of $598 million. In 2022, the company recorded a loss of $2.1 billion.
Construction has begun on a $4 billion plant in North Carolina.
VinFast is entering the US and European markets at a time when EV prices are under pressure, led by market leader Tesla and a variety of Chinese companies.
VinFast’s VF8 starts at $46,000 in California, compared to $47,740 for the Tesla Model Y before accounting for a $7,500 federal tax credit on the Tesla.
Thuy said VinFast was moving toward “cost reduction going forward.”
Thuy said VinFast hoped to bring its larger VF9 EV to the US market by the end of the year and was in the process of getting its cars certified by Europe’s safety regulator.
Reporting by Phuong Nguyen, Yantoultra Ngui and Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat, with additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and Noel Randewich in Oakland. California; Edited by Kevin Krolicki, Conor Humphries, Mark Potter, Jonathan Oatis, and Sonali Paul
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