Vietnam EV maker VinFast to list in the US via a SPAC

The move comes after the startup last month said it had received a fresh round of funding pledges worth $2.5 billion from parent company Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate, and founder Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietnam’s first billionaire and richest man.

After the merger, the new entity will have an enterprise value of approximately $27 billion and an equity value of $23 billion, “assuming no BSAQ shareholders elect to have their Black Spade shares redeemed for cash as permitted,” VinFast and Black Spade said in a joint statement.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023, it said, adding existing shareholders of VinFast will hold approximately 99% shares of the combined company.

VinFast, which began to sell EVs in California this year, filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. to list on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “VFS” in December last year.

Black Spade Acquisition is an Hong Kong-based SPAC which listed on the NYSE in mid-July 2021 with a plan to merge, within two years, with a company ideally in the entertainment business, according to its website.