Vietnam’s IPO hopefuls eye Asian bourses as Wall Street dims

Vietnam’s most ambitious firms are now looking past Wall Street and setting their eyes on other dream listing destinations like Hong Kong and Singapore. Exchanges in the US may have long brought the most prestige for an overseas IPO, but options closer to home are emerging as viable alternatives.

Green and Smart Mobility, a VinFast-linked electric taxi operator, is exploring a US$20 billion Hong Kong listing as early as 2027. Meanwhile, biotech firm Gene Solutions is raising a pre-IPO round and weighing a Hong Kong or Singapore listing.

Photo credit: Xanh SM

Asian IPOs offer regional proximity, larger investor pools, and frameworks that are more suited to Vietnamese companies’ size and structure, according to advisers and bankers. Compared to the US, they also bring less execution risk while still offering prestige.

Tech firms like VNG, Tiki, and Loship, alongside corporate ventures like Bamboo Airways and VinFast, had long aimed to list on the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Those IPO dreams rarely materialized, however. Eventually, VinFast entered the US, though not through a conventional IPO but an SPAC deal. VNG, on the other hand, withdrew its filing after less than six months.

Other marquee names are keeping their listing options open.

Vietnam’s largest coffee chain, Highlands Coffee, and Masan Group’s integrated retail and consumer platform, The CrownX, previously said they were considering Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US for their public debuts. A domestic listing also remains an option.

Red carpet

Hong Kong and Singapore are trying to appeal to regional companies with overseas listing ambitions. The former reclaimed its spot as the world’s top IPO fundraising venue last year, according to major accounting firms.

Deloitte estimated that Hong Kong completed 114 IPOs in 2025, raising HK$286.3 billion (US$36.7 billion), up 3x compared to 2024. It also forecast about 160 new listings raising at least HK$300 billion (US$38.4 billion) in the city this year, backed by more than 300 listing applications.

The exterior of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange / Photo credit: Lewis Tse / Shutterstock

The financial hub, known as the gateway to China, is also actively courting Southeast Asian firms.

Its regulators are reviewing rules for dual primary and secondary listings to boost ties between Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and Southeast Asian counterparts while smoothing the path for overseas companies to list in Hong Kong.

Fits like a glove

American dream lives on