Vietnam’s first unicorn, VNG Corporation, is understood to have delayed its initial public offering (IPO) in the US until April 2024, DealStreetAsia has learnt.
Last month, VNG had officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US through its listing vehicle VNG Limited.
Bloomberg first reported that VNG has decided to postpone its plans for a US IPO.
After seeing mixed performances from three newly listed companies this month, VNG was advised to hold off until market demand improves, the report said, citing a source who asked not to be identified because the information was private.
DealStreetAsia has reached out to VNG for comments.
The filing, which makes VNG the first Vietnamese tech company to seek a listing in the US, came six years after the company reached a memorandum of understanding with Nasdaq to list on the bourse.
Reuters reported that VNG targeted to raise $150 million in the IPO, which was likely around September-end or October.
In its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, VNG said proceeds of the IPO would be used to pay original foreign investors who are direct shareholders of the company and to repay its outstanding borrowings. It would also fund its investment in fintech startup 01Fintech, among others.
Post-IPO, VNG Limited, the listed company, would have a 49% direct equity interest in the Vietnam-based operating company, along with a 21.3% indirect effective interest through BigV Technology, a Vietnamese holding company.
Upon completion of the transaction, Tencent would be the largest shareholder in VNG, holding 47.4% of the Class A shares, while Singapore sovereign fund GIC would hold 11.1%, Temasek 6.9%, and Ant Group 5.7%, as seen in the filing. In terms of voting power, Tencent would have a 23.2% right.
Founded in 2004 and led by co-founder Le Hong Minh, VNG’s business comprises four segments – games, communications and media, fintech, and long-term opportunities. Its messaging app Zalo is one of the most popular social platforms in Vietnam.
Vietnamese tech unicorn VNG’s proposed US market debut may prove to be the liquidity event that investors in the Southeast Asian market have been waiting for, according to experts whom DealStreetAsia talked with.
VNG’s IPO is widely seen to give a leg-up to the Vietnamese tech ecosystem that has largely been an opaque exit market and comes close on the heels of automobile player VinFast‘s listing on the Nasdaq market following a SPAC merger.