VietJet wants to be first to list overseas

HANOI: VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co is in talks to become the first company in Vietnam to list its shares on a stock exchange overseas as the carrier, which controls more than 40% of the domestic airline market, seeks more funds after plans for billions of dollars in aircraft purchases.

“We’ve been approached by some foreign stock exchanges including London, Hong Kong and Singapore, which expressed their interest in our stock,” Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, VietJet’s founder and chief executive officer, said in an interview in Hanoi on Sunday.

Thao said she would meet exchange officials in New York later this week.

The plan for the 41 trillion-dong ($1.8 billion) low-cost carrier comes amid the government’s easing of rules to allow more foreign investment in one of the fastestgrowing aviation markets.

Hanoi-based VietJet, known for a marketing stunt featuring bikini-clad service crew, received shareholder approval in April to boost its foreign ownership limit to 49% from 30%.

“Listing overseas on big markets will help increase our access to more fund sources, boost the trading of our stock and expand the list of our investors,” said Thao, a self-made billionaire. “We don’t want to hide our hope to become the first Vietnamese company to list shares overseas.”

The overseas listing plan would make VietJet the first Vietnamese company to officially trade overseas, according to Tran Anh Dao, deputy chief executive of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

“While VietJet has done well in Vietnam, it faces tougher competition against entrenched players such as low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd, as well as Cathay Pacific’s regional unit, Cathay Dragon, as it expands in Asia,’’ said Tyler Cheung, director of institutional clients at ACB Securities Co. in Ho Chi Minh City.

“They have been able to accomplish something impressive in a relatively small period of time,” he said. “The question is whether their business model and corporate strategy can transfer to a regional play.”

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd doesn’t comment on individual companies, a spokeswoman said in an email. Singapore Exchange Ltd declined in an email to comment.

VietJet, which began operating six years ago, “has 136 foreign investors who own 26% of the company,’’ Thao, 46, said in April. She owns more than 60% of the airline directly and through holding companies and other entities, according to filings.

The increase in foreign ownership will need to be approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc because aviation is considered a restricted industry, with the limit currently capped at 30%.

“The airline has filed paperwork requesting the increase,’’ Thao said.

“Raising the limit isn’t aimed at attracting a strategic investor, although the company is open to one,’’ she said.