VinaCapital reveals US$20.5 million investment in budget airline Vietjet’s Pre-IPO round

vivian

November 7, 2017

Vietjet, VinaCapital

VinaCapital, an asset management firm has recently disclosed a US$20.5 million investment in Vietnam’s first private airline Vietjet’s pre-IPO offering back in December 2016.

The firm’s flagship fund Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) made the investment which became a confidence booster for foreign investors. Following the deal, foreign investors also invested and collectively own a 24.4 percent stake in Vietjet.

Besides, the US$170 million investment has also made the airline’s pre-IPO offering the first and biggest internationally marketed transaction by a Vietnamese firm.

Other shareholders of the airline include large institutions like Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Singapore’s GIC.

For VinaCapital, the airline company is among the top 10 holding companies in VOF, representing a 3.3 percent of its net asset value (NAV) as of 30 June 2017.

Meanwhile, the fund’s biggest investment which represents 13.6 percent of the company’s NAV continues to be Vinamilk, Vietnam’s largest-listed business.

Vietjet started off with a single aircraft, having launched its first commercial flight in December 2011. In its first year of operation, the airline had achieved 8 percent market share and grew to the 45 percent market share by May 2017.

So far, Vietjet’s stock price has increased 41 percent since its listing debut on February 28 this year. Vietjet’s capitalization is about US$2.25 billion, while its biggest competitor Vietnam Airlines is valued at US$1.5 billion by market price.

vivian

Vivian Foo is a reporter who writes about Southeast Asia’s technology and startup space. The entry point which led her to write about the startup ecosystem was her fascination of the dot-com boom. She is taking a deep dive into how the entrepreneurial mindset works and hopes to share the insights, innovation, and stories of the startups with her readers.