Dive Brief:
- Vietnamese electric carmaker VinFast plans to go public in August after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved its merger with special purpose acquisition company Black Spade Acquisition Co., the automaker said Friday.
- Shareholders will vote to approve the merger on Aug. 10. VinFast’s enterprise value is $27 billion.
- The automaker aims to expand its U.S. business and invest up to $4 billion to assemble electric vehicles and battery packs at its North Carolina factory.
Dive Insight:
VinFast’s holding company, Vietnam-based conglomerate Vingroup, filed for the automaker’s initial public offering in December 2022. Other EV startups, including Lucid Group and Fisker, Inc., also merged with blank check companies for their IPOs.
“This merger will position us for long-term success,” Black Spade Chair and CEO Dennis Tam said in a statement. “We anticipate that the global lifestyle paradigm shift towards electric mobility will accelerate further.”
In January, the EV startup consolidated its Canadian and U.S. strategic business and management operations into a single unit named VinFast North America and headquartered in Los Angeles.
VinFast opened its first six U.S. retail showrooms in California in July 2022. The company, which was founded in 2017 and launched its VF e34 electric SUV in Vietnam in 2021, sells its vehicles directly to consumers. It's a similar retail model as Rivian, Polestar and Lucid Group, which do not sell their vehicles through franchised dealerships.
The company exported its first shipment of VF 8 SUVs to North America in December, becoming the first Vietnam-based EV company to sell vehicles in the U.S.
VinFast signed a memorandum of understanding to build its North Carolina factory in March 2022. The automaker expects the factory to start production in 2025 with an initial capacity of 150,000 vehicles.
In October 2022, battery maker and VinFast supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. signed an MOU with the automaker to develop an EV skateboard chassis, which integrates battery packs, electric motors and other components into a single layer unit.
