Vietnamese internet company VNG seeks $150 million in US listing - sources

By Scott Murdoch and Yantoultra Ngui

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Vietnam internet company VNG Corp aims to raise $150 million in a U.S. stock market listing, two sources said, becoming the latest Southeast Asian startup to tap Wall Street as interest in the offerings rise after VinFast's stunning debut.

VNG filed earlier for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq via VNG Ltd, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed. It is targeting a trading debut at end-September or October, the sources said.

The company, which counts the likes of Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent and Singapore state investor Temasek as shareholders, declined to comment on the targeted fundraising.

Founded in 2004, VNG is Vietnam's first unicorn, or startup valued at $1 billion or more, and it inked a preliminary agreement in 2017 with U.S. bourse operator Nasdaq Inc to explore an IPO. A listing will make VNG the first technology firm from Vietnam to list in the U.S.

The Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered company's businesses include online games, payments, cloud services and Vietnam's most popular messaging app, Zalo.

Loss-making Vietnamese electric car maker VinFast's shares have rocketed after its U.S. debut earlier this month, taking its market valuation to a staggering $86 billion. With 99% of the firm controlled by its founder, the tiny amount of publicly available shares has made the stock prone to volatility.

Its gains, though, could help to add momentum for other Southeast Asian companies seeking IPOs in the U.S., said analysts.

Philippine real estate company DoubleDragon Corp earlier in August announced that it was considering listing its Singapore-registered unit Hotel101 Global on the Nasdaq via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

"While the future outcomes of these startups' IPO plans cannot be guaranteed, the growing interest in international listings and the presence of notable players in the region indicate a promising landscape for Southeast Asian startups seeking to expand their reach and access global capital markets," said Seth Farbman, chairman and co-founder of New York-based stock transfer agency VStock Transfer.

VNG said in the filing it planned to offer some 21.7 million shares, with the proposed price range yet to be set.

IPO proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, repayment of outstanding borrowings and donations, among others, the filing showed.

Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Bank of America are underwriters of the IPO, according to the filing.

Shares of VNG trading on Hanoi Stock Exchange's UPCoM, a transition exchange for unlisted companies to test the appetite of stock investors before eventually going public, were up 11% on Thursday.

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Sonali Paul and Muralikumar Anantharaman)