Vietnamese Internet startup VNG is rumored to delay its U.S. IPO

Zhitong Finance APP has learned that according to people familiar with the matter, VNG Ltd., an Internet start-up company headquartered in Vietnam, has decided to postpone its plan for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. After seeing mixed performance from three newly listed companies this month, VNG was advised to delay the listing until market demand improves, people familiar with the matter said. The IPO may be postponed to next year.

Before VNG made the above decision, SoftBank's semiconductor design company Arm Holdings (ARM.US) and grocery delivery company Instacart (CART.US) once fell below the IPO issue price. Marketing and data automation software provider Klaviyo (KVYO) was the best performer of the three companies that went public in New York in September. The company's stock price on Thursday was just 12% above the IPO price, after rising as much as 32% on its first day of trading on Wednesday. This follows Vietnamese electric carmaker VinFast Auto's dramatic entry into the U.S. market, with its shares soaring 504% in six days after merging with a blank-check company. Shares have erased much of their gains as the money-losing electric car upstart struggles to expand overseas.

VNG, formerly known as Vinagame, was founded in 2004 as a game publisher. It develops and publishes its own works, as well as local versions of international hits, and has gradually expanded into a wide range of services such as music sharing, video streaming, instant messaging, news portals and mobile payments. The company has been exploring a U.S. listing since at least 2017.

The gaming and messaging provider plans to sell about 22 million shares but has not yet disclosed a price range for the IPO.