US listing for Vietnam EV maker a major milestone: VinFast

Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast has confirmed that it would start trading shares on the tech-focused Nasdaq on August 15 (U.S. time).

VinFast made the confirmation Tuesday morning (local time) in a joint statement with American firm Black Spade Acquisition.

“Becoming a U.S.-listed company marks a significant milestone in VinFast’s global expansion,” VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said in the statement.

The Nasdaq listing will enhance VinFast’s global outreach by facilitating even wider access to capital, it added.

Black Spade has become a wholly owned subsidiary of VinFast and is expected to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Black Spade, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) based in the U.S., had announced in May that it had entered into a business combination agreement with VinFast.

SPACs are shell companies that raise capital in an initial public offering (IPO) and use the cash to merge with a private company in order to take it public, usually within two years.

VinFast’s shares and warrants will commence trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbols VFS and VFSWW, respectively.

“Driven by a shared aspiration to shape a better future through innovation, we anticipate our collaboration with VinFast to bring about a fresh chapter of sustainable mobility,” said Black Spade chairman and Co-CEO Dennis Tam.

The business combination of VinFast and Black Spade, which was completed on Monday U.S. time, values VinFast at approximately $23 billion, according to a June filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.

VinFast, a member of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup JSC, is the country’s leading EV maker. Founded in 2017 as a producer of fossil fuel cars, it has shifted to total EV manufacturing. It makes and exports a portfolio of electric SUVs, e-scooters and e-buses across Vietnam, the U.S., and, soon, Europe.