Vietnam EV maker VinFast secures $2.5b

HANOI, Apr 26 (Reuters): Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast said on Wednesday it had received a fresh round of funding pledges worth $2.5 billion for its future development, in a move that may signal a new delay to its planned listing in the United States.

Two people familiar with the matter had previously told Reuters that VinFast's planned US Initial Public Offering (IPO) may be further delayed, with one saying it could be pushed into next year due to unfavourable market conditions.

VinFast had no immediate comment about the impact of the fundraising on its planned IPO on Wednesday. Last week it declined to comment on the listing.

VinFast, which began operations in 2019, is gearing up to expand in the US market, where it hopes to build a car and battery plant to compete with legacy automakers and startups, although shipments of vehicles from its factory in Vietnam have so far proceeded slowly.