HANOI — Vietnam’s IPO market is heating up, fuelled by a share rally, regulatory changes and a credit splurge, but has failed to stir fresh interest from foreign investors despite the prospect that the market could be upgraded by index provider FTSE Russell.
Last week brokerage Techcom Securities, a unit of private lender Techcombank raised $410 million, pointing to a company valuation of $4 billion and marking one of Vietnam’s largest initial public offerings in recent years.
That was worth nearly half the value of the combined 36 IPOs so far this year in Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s largest IPO market based on the value and number of deals, according to data provider LSEG Workspace.
Vietnam-focused private equity fund Dragon Capital forecast at the start of the year that 13 companies, including Techcom Securities, would go public in Vietnam by 2028. It said the companies would have a projected combined market capitalisation of up to $47.5 billion, roughly 14 percent of Vietnam’s current market value.
There was just one IPO in Vietnam in 2024 and three in 2023.
The share rally and a regulation adopted this month to shorten listing procedures, are stoking the enthusiasm, said Nguyen The Minh, head of research and development at Yuanta Securities Vietnam, a brokerage.
The Vietnamese index has surged 29 percent so far this year, Southeast Asia’s best-performing stock market, LSEG data shows.
“If firms had plans to launch IPOs, they don’t want to miss this wave,” Minh said.
Vinpearl (VPL.HM), the resort arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup , raised approximately $190 million in an IPO in May, returning to the market after having been taken private over a decade ago.
