Vietnam's VNG delays Nasdaq IPO amid challenging market

The app maker, which has more chat users than Facebook in Vietnam, "has every intention" of eventually completing an initial public offering in the U.S., a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia. It filed for an IPO a week after the debut of Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast, which like other newly listed companies has seen volatile trading in its first weeks on the market.

"Market conditions are still very challenging," the source said.

VNG declined to comment when contacted by Nikkei Asia.

VNG was one of several businesses cited by the White House this month as an example of Vietnamese companies tapping "U.S. capital markets to fuel growth and innovation."

With divisions in payments, cloud computing and music, it would be one of the few Vietnamese companies to sell stock overseas and is thus seen as a test case of investor appetite for firms in the region, as well as of regulatory scrutiny.

"Elements of our corporate structure are unprecedented and have not been tested in any court in Vietnam or elsewhere," the company previously said in a securities filing.

The filing said it would list a Cayman Islands holding company that has a stake in VNG Corp. of 49% -- Vietnam's foreign-ownership limit for certain sectors -- plus a 21% indirect interest.

Source: Nikkei Asia