Vietnamese unicorn VNG reportedly considers going public in US through $3B merger

Vietnam-based VNG Corp. is considering going public in the U.S. through a reverse merger with a blank-check company, reports Bloomberg.

The online gaming and tech firm includes within its investors a unit of Singaporean wealth fund GIC and is working with financial advisers to hold discussions with special purpose acquisition companies, further comments the news site.

A transaction could potentially value VNG at an estimated range between $2 billion to $3 billion. A representative for VNG has said no decision on an IPO or SPAC has been made or approved.

VNG Corporation is a Vietnamese technology company founded in 2004, specializing in digital content and online entertainment, with focus on four main businesses: online games, platforms, digital payments and cloud services; and some of its main products include Zalo, ZaloPay, Zing MP3 and ZingPlay, the latest featuring gaming offerings including card and casino-style games. Other popular products include esports offerings.

The company was founded on 2004 under the name VinaGame, switching to its current one on 2008. In 2014 it was evaluated $1 billion and became the first unicorn startup in Vietnam. The company has been considering a potential Nasdaq listing since at least 2017, said Bloomberg News.

That year, it was reported that the company counted with the government’s support for the startup’s overseas IPO as it broke records for Vietnam-based companies through its previous funding rounds from GIC, Goldman Sachs Group, IDG Ventures, and others.

“It’s a very good sign a Vietnamese company can become a global company by going to a global capital market. It will help attract a lot of attention and investment to Vietnam,” CEO and co-founder Le Hong Minh said in 2017.