VinFast to spin off R&D assets in 39.8 trillion dong deal with founder

[HANOI] Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast Auto announced plans to spinoff part of its research and development unit into a newly formed company, which will then be sold to the automaker’s founder in a deal worth about US$1.5 billion, according to a filing.

The newly-formed company, Novatech Research and Development, will be carved out from VinFast Trading and Production (VFTP) and will initially remain a direct subsidiary of VinFast, according to the statement. VinFast will own about 38 per cent stake in Novatech, it added.

Novatech will hold assets related to costs of completed research and development projects. After the creation of the new entity, VinFast will sell all of its shares in Novatech to its founder and chief executive officer Pham Nhat Vuong for about 39.8 trillion dong (US$1.5 billion), according to the statement.

The transaction “reflects a further effort by the founder to facilitate VinFast’s long-term growth,” the statement said.

VFTP will remain a direct subsidiary of VinFast and continue to operate its core EV manufacturing business in Vietnam and conduct future research and development on new products and technologies.

Vuong, who is Vietnam’s richest man with a US$10.9 billion fortune according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has pumped more than US$2 billion of his own money into VinFast and has said he’s willing to support the company until his cash runs out.

VinFast earlier this month inaugurated a factory in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu which will have an initial production capacity of 50,000 vehicles a year. It expects to open a plant in Indonesia by October.

In 2024, VinFast delivered 97,399 EVs globally and expects to at least double that this year, with 200,000 deliveries in Vietnam. BLOOMBERG