RALEIGH – VinFast, the Vietnam-based electric vehicle manufacturing company that’s investing billions to build an auto plant in Chatham County, is moving forward with previously delayed plans to take the company public through a stock offering in the U.S.

The company announced its “business combination” with publicly listed Black Spade Acquisition Co. (NYSE: BSAQ) early today.

VinFast will be valued at $27 billion through the deal, according to the company. It reportedly was seeking $2 billion through the delayed IPO plan.

VinFast’s IPO deal: How does a SPAC work in raising cash? Tech attorney explains

Such a merger with an existing public company enables VinFast to get access to public markets to share stock at a much faster pace than a standard Initial Public Offering, notes consulting firm PwC and Raleigh tech focused attorney Jim Verdonik.

Black Spade is a so-called “blank check” company that is incorporated to create a business entity called a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company). It describes itself as “a special purpose acquisition company focused on identifying a business combination target that can benefit from the extensive collective network, knowledge and experience of our founder and management team that is related to or in the entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products, or services, and entertainment media.” The company raised $169 million in its own U.S. IPO in 2021, according to Bloomberg News. It is based in Hong Kong.

Current VinFast shareholders will own 99% of the combined company, the companies said.

VinFast withdrew its own IPO plans, citing market conditions.

VinFast is committed to building an electric vehicle manufacturing complex in Chatham County with an investment of some $4 billion. It recently said the opening would be pushed back a year to 2025 but also has announced plans for prospective employ training. A week ago, VinFast U.S. Manufacturing CEO Van Anh Nguyen committed to starting production in 2025 in Moncure.

VinFast raises $2.5 billion in new commitments, remains committed to stock offering in U.S.

“VinFast has already demonstrated the ability to quickly reach international markets. The partnership with Black Spade and listing of VinFast in the U.S. represents the perfect capital raising avenue for our future global ambitions and is also an important accomplishment for Vingroup,” said Thuy Le, the global CEO of VinFast.

Black Spade was created by Black Spade Capital, which manages a global investment portfolio, VinFast and Black Space said in the announcement.

“VinFast has demonstrated their execution excellence by building up a maximum production facility of up to 300,000 electric vehicles (EVs) a year and having a full range of beautifully designed high quality EVs, all within the span of a few years,” said Dennis Tam, chairman and co-CEO of Black Spade. “With the support of Vingroup, one of the largest conglomerates in Vietnam, VinFast is very well positioned to take advantage of the EV lifestyle trend and we are very excited about the future potential growth of VinFast in Vietnam and globally.”

The deal is expected to close “in the second half of 2023,” the companies said.

VinFast recently secured additional capital commitments in Vietnam to help fund expansion and building the U.S. factory.

It has also recently begun selling a limited number of vehicles in the U.S.