Vietnam EV maker VinFast gets SPAC shareholders’ nod to list in US

HANOI (Reuters) – Shareholders of Black Spade Acquisition, a Hong Kong-based blank-cheque company, on Thursday approved a merger with Vietnam’s electric automaker VinFast, allowing the carmaker to list in the United States this year.

The vote gives VinFast, which began operations in 2019 and started to deliver cars in California this year, the final go ahead to complete its two-year journey seeking to go public in the U.S, where it hopes to compete with legacy automakers and startups.

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission declared effective VinFast’s filing to merge with Black Spade, which last month held another extraordinary shareholder meeting to vote on its one-year lifespan extension.

Founded by Black Spade Capital, the private investment arm of Lawrence Ho, the head of Melco Resorts & Entertainment, which operates casinos in Macau and the Philippines, BSAQ’s initial intention was to merge with an entertainment company.

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

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