Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast said construction of its North Carolina factory will start July 28 as the company heads toward taking itself public in the US later this year.
The plant, to be located in Chatham County’s Triangle Innovation Point, is expected to have an initial production capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year, VinFast said in a statement. The company said production at the facility will begin in 2025.
VinFast, founded by Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong, plans to list in the US by merging with special purpose acquisition company Black Spade Acquisition Co. in the second half of the year. The deal would give VinFast an equity value of about $23 billion.
The EV firm’s existing shareholders are set to own 99% of the company, leaving a tiny portion for SPAC investors who hold on through the deal. An equity valuation of $23 billion, or $27 billion including debt, would mean VinFast will trade at a premium to most peers including Rivian Automotive Inc. and Nikola Corp., according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Ken Foong and Siti Nur Fairuz Khalil.
Rivian once wiped out more than 90% of its value from late 2021 peaks. Its stock has almost doubled this month after the company said it built more battery-electric vehicles last quarter than Wall Street had anticipated and also shipped its first commercial shipments outside the US.
Black Spade raised $169 million in an US IPO in 2021. About 84% of Black Spade shareholders opted to redeem their stock for cash when they approved a deadline extension for the SPAC merger last week. The redemptions leaves less than $30 million in the SPAC’s trust.
President Joe Biden tweeted a March 2022 White House statement that said the VinFast plant would create more than 7,000 jobs. The factory will have an initial investment of as much as $2 billion, Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy said last year.
The factory will consist of two main areas, electric vehicle production and assembly sites. The complex will also house facilities for suppliers, according to the statement.
“When it begins operations, the factory will be VinFast’s primary supplier of electric vehicles to the North American market,” Thuy said in the statement.
A SPAC merger, if successful, will cap VinFast’s years-long efforts to become a publicly traded company. Bloomberg News first reported in early 2021 that parent company Vingroup JSC was considering a $2 billion US IPO for the EV unit. The company decided to abandon its IPO plans and agreed to the SPAC deal instead.
The Hong Kong-based blank check firm has said it aims to identify a business combination target related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products or services, and entertainment media, its website shows. Its sponsor Black Spade Capital Ltd. is the private investment arm of Lawrence Ho, the chairman and chief executive officer of casino operator Melco International Development Ltd.
The factory is part of an ambitious global expansion goal of company founder Vuong, who had a net worth of $4.1 billion as of July 18, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
(Updates with existing shareholders in the fourth paragraph.)