Vietnam carmaker VinFast files for U.S. IPO over global EV ambitions

VinFast, a Singapore-incorporated subsidiary of Vietnam's Vingroup, has filed for an IPO in the U.S. shortly after the electric vehicle maker secured an MoU with North Carolina’s government to establish a $4 billion factory complex in the state.

The carmaker on Thursday announced that "it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form F-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed initial public offering of its ordinary shares."

The size and price range for the proposed offering have yet to be determined. The IPO is expected to take place after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions, it stated in a release.

VinFast, a unit under Vietnam’s largest listed conglomerate Vingroup, and the government of North Carolina in late March signed a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of VinFast’s manufacturing plant. The company intends to invest $2 billion in the project’s first phase.

Forbes-listed billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, in pursuit of his goal of making his VinFast a global electric vehicle maker, is placing its top priority on the U.S. market. The planned IPO is considered a move to seek financing for U.S. expansion and the North Carolina facility, set to produce make electric buses, sport utility vehicles and batteries for electric vehicles.

As for the VinFast facility planned in North Carolina, U.S. President Joe Biden stated in late March that such $4 billion investment would create more than 7,000 jobs and hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles and batteries. The project “is the latest example of my economic strategy at work,” he wrote.

VinFast has established global operations in the U.S, Canada, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. It said last year that Jeremy Snyder, former head of global business development at Tesla, was serving as chief growth officer for VinFast U.S. It is looking for a plant in Germany, the carmaker revealed in January.

The company provides an ecosystem of EV products in its home country Vietnam, including e-scooters, electric buses, electric cars, a charging station system, and green energy solutions.

Founded in 2017, VinFast, Vietnam's first fully fledged domestic carmaker, boasts a state-of-the-art vehicle production facility in Hai Phong that can produce 950,000 vehicles per year by 2026.

The EV maker established VinES Energy Solutions JSC last year, specializing in manufacturing batteries and accumulators, and VinAI JSC for artificial intelligence application and research.