Vietnamese internet startup VNG files for IPO in US

Hanoi, August 25 (VNA) – Vietnamese internet company VNG Corp, under trading code VNZ, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US via VNG Ltd, according to Reuters. The listing will make it the first technology firm from Vietnam to list in the US. According to the VNG, it planned to offer some 21.7 million shares, with the proposed price range yet to be set. The IPO proceeds will be used to pay original foreign investors who were direct shareholders of the company including Tencent (China) and Singapore's Temasek, and repay outstanding loans. Underwriters for this IPO include Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, UBS Securities and BofA Securities. Founded in 2004, the VNG was Vietnam's first unicorn or startup valued at 1 billion USD or more, and it inked a preliminary agreement in 2017 with US bourse operator Nasdaq Inc to explore an IPO. Based in Ho Chi Minh City, it is operating businesses include online games, payments, cloud services and Zalo - a popular messaging app in Vietnam. VNG's IPO follows the recent US listing debut by VinFast VFS.O and could help add momentum for other Southeast Asian companies seeking IPO in the US. In the session on August 24, shares of VNG - currently listed on UPCOM exchange with trading code VNZ - increased 12.78% to 1.244 million VND (51.88USD) per share.-VNA