Vietnam EV maker VinFast says it will undergo corporate restructuring

HANOI, May 13 (Reuters) - VinFast VFS.O is planning to sell its Vietnam manufacturing facilities to a buyer group that includes its founder and chief executive Pham Nhat Vuong, with the loss-making electric vehicle maker aiming to restructure its local operations into a more "asset-light" model, a company filing showed.

VinFast said it will separate manufacturing assets held by subsidiary VinFast Trading and Production JSC (VFTP) and transfer the unit to a purchaser group led by Future Investment Research and Development JSC, in a deal valued at about 13.3 trillion dong ($530 million), according to the filing dated May 12.

• Following the restructuring, VinFast will retain its R&D, intellectual property, sales and after-sales operations, while the divested entity will continue producing VinFast-branded vehicles under a manufacturing agreement.

• The company said the transaction would reduce future capital expenditure requirements and allow it to focus more on international expansion.

• The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder and creditor approvals.

• The automaker posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.34 billion, up 15% from a year earlier, and has said it expects to reach EBITDA breakeven in 2027.

• In August last year, VinFast also announced the spin-off of its research and development unit, Novatech, to Vuong for about 39.8 trillion dong ($1.6 billion), in a move that effectively acted as a capital injection from the founder to support the company's operations and break-even goals.