According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the Vietnamese internet startup VNG Corp (VNZ.HNO) has applied to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States through VNG Ltd.
The listing will make VNG the first Vietnamese technology startup to list in the United States.
In the application, VNG stated that it intended to issue 21.7 million shares, with the proposed price range still to be determined.
According to the filing, the IPO proceeds will be used, among other things, to pay off outstanding loans and the company’s original international investors who were direct stockholders.
Chinese social media and gaming juggernaut Tencent (0700.HK) and Singapore state investor Temasek (TEM.UL) are just a couple of the investors in the business.
VNG was the first unicorn in Vietnam, or company valued at $1 billion or more, and it signed a preliminary agreement with U.S. exchange operator Nasdaq Inc. in 2017 to investigate an IPO. VNG was founded in 2004.
Online games, payments, cloud services, and Zalo, Vietnam’s most well-known messaging app, are among the companies operated by the corporation with its headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the filing, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Bank of America are the underwriters of the IPO.
Following VinFast’s recent U.S. listing debut, VNG’s IPO could give other Southeast Asian businesses looking to go public in the United States more momentum.
Earlier in August, the Philippine real estate firm DoubleDragon Corp (DD.PS) disclosed that it was thinking about merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in order to float its Singapore-registered subsidiary Hotel101 Global on the Nasdaq.
Carsome Group, a used car marketplace in Southeast Asia, was considering an American listing as well.
According to Seth Farbman, chairman and co-founder of New York-based stock transfer agency VStock Transfer, “While the future results of these startups’ IPO plans cannot be guaranteed, the growing interest in international listings and the presence of notable players in the region indicate a promising landscape for Southeast Asian startups seeking to expand their reach and access global capital markets.”
