The era of spectacular electric car IPOs actually seemed over. This Tuesday, however, the shares of the Vietnamese manufacturer Vinfast were traded on the US stock exchange Nasdaq for the first time. And just like in the heyday of the electro hype, Vinfast also made its IPO by merging with a special purpose acquisition company – the Spac IPOs also seemed an outdated phenomenon.
The stock opened trading at $22, more than double the $10 per share agreed with Vinfast’s Spac partner Black Spade Acquisition. Initially, extremely few shares were traded, the price has even risen to $24 in the meantime – which theoretically values the carmaker at $55 billion. Vinfast was theoretically more valuable than the already established electric rival Rivian ($20 billion) – and even more valuable than the traditional American carmaker ford ($48 billion).
The deal didn’t bring any new capital for the Vietnamese start-up, but chief financial officer David Mansfield said the company is in contact with investors and expects to raise more funds. “We have a number of strategic investors and institutional investors in our sights,” he told Reuters. He expects further steps in the next 18 months. “We don’t need more equity, but of course if an opportunity arises, we will take it while we can.”
In Germany Vinfast became known when ex-Opel boss Michael Lohscheller (54) temporarily hired as CEO there. However, he gave the job back at the end of 2021, and Le Thi Thu Thuy has been running the company ever since. Under her leadership, Vinfast also wants to sell cars in Germany. However, the market launch was extremely chaotic.
Also in the USA sales got off to a slow start. While Vinfast has shipped nearly 3,000 vehicles to North America, just 137 cars were registered through June, according to S&P Global Mobility. Company boss Le Thi Thu Thuy has now explained that the company will change its sales model and switch from direct sales to classic dealers.
The founder of Vinfast is the richest man in Vietnam, Pham Nhat Vuong (54). His ascent began with instant noodles. In 1993 he founded the food company Technocom in Ukraine. In 2000 he moved back to Vietnam, where he built his business into a huge conglomerate called Vingroup: hospitals, schools, tourism, artificial intelligence – the company now employs over 40,000 people. In 2017 he entered the car industry and initially relied on combustion engines. He also used old BMW technology and quickly gained a market share of more than 10 percent in Vietnam. In 2021, Vinfast sold over 35,000 cars at home. But that wasn’t enough for Vuong.
Overall, his group is said to have invested around 9 billion dollars in building the company and is now fully committed to electric. The founder only pledged another $2.5 billion in support of the manufacturer in April, including $1 billion from his personal fortune. Through his group and affiliated companies, he is still the decisive owner after the IPO and controls 99 percent of the ordinary shares.
How long the new electric star will keep the fabulous rating on the stock exchange is highly questionable. Revenue in the first quarter fell 49 percent year over year and the company posted a net loss of $598 million. In 2022, the end result was a minus of 2.1 billion dollars. Vinfast has not yet made a profit.