VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi Noi Bai International) is set to raise USD170 million in its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The low cost carrier is 95% privately owned by Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who will now become Vietnam’s first female billionaire.
According to sources reported in Reuters, 44.7 million shares will be up for sale at just under the median of their aggregated value which sits between VND75,900 and VND98,400 (USD3.34 to USD4.32). The company will be listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange on February 23, 2017. Based upon these values, the airline's valuation is set to be USD1.2 billion. The sources also report that the IPO is oversubscribed by almost 200%.
VietJet commenced operations in 2011 and now commands almost 30% of Vietnam’s air passenger capacity overall, and 40% of the domestic market. Its top twenty routes by capacity are all within Vietnam, where it has focused its offerings, but it also runs scheduled flights to Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. In early December, VietJet signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Air India (AI, Delhi International) over proposed cooperation on flights between Vietnam and India.
