Vietnam’s VNG considers SPAC listing in the US

Vietnam’s first tech unicorn is considering a SPAC listing in the US, which could value the company at US$2 billion to US$3 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.

This adds VNG to a long list of other tech companies in the region exploring the SPAC route, including Traveloka, PropertyGuru, and of course Grab.

Photo credit: VNG

In 2017, VNG signed a memorandum of understanding with Nasdaq during then Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the US, but its much anticipated listing never came to fruition.

The company previously said it expects to report a loss of about US$27 million in 2021 due to the effects of Covid-19 and that its spend for further investments will grow its payment business. It is targeting revenues of about US$330 million this year, an increase of about 26% compared to its 2020 total revenue.

Besides gaming, VNG’s digital services span several verticals, including social media (Zalo), online media (Zing News), financial services (ZaloPay), and cloud services (VNG Cloud). Even with its strong foothold as a broader internet company, gaming still contributes more than 80% of VNG’s total revenue.

In a previous interview with Tech in Asia, Kelly Wong, VNG’s vice president for operations, said the company has been stepping up efforts to develop and publish games for foreign markets. Wong did not disregard the IPO scenario.

“Opportunities to capture growth in new markets is always helpful in terms of improving growth and as a result company valuation,” Wong noted at the time.

See also: Vietnam’s first unicorn is finally serious about its global gaming ambitions

Before Grab and Gojek came along, VNG and Garena were the only two unicorns in Southeast Asia. Garena has since morphed into Sea Group, which went public in the US back in 2017 and now has a market cap of about US$155 billion.