Black Spade Acquisition Co (BSAQ) Shareholders Approve VinFast Deal

Black Spade (NYSE:BSAQ) announced this morning that its shareholders approved its $27 billion combination with EV-maker VinFast at a special meeting earlier today.

The deal is expected to close on August 14, after which its shares and warrants are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbols “VFS” and “VFSWW” on August 15.

For a deal announced just 91 days ago on May 12 this has been a lightning fast process. Only four other SPACs have gotten to close so far with deals announced in 2023 and the shortest time among them was Colombier, which completed its combination with PSQ Holdings (NYSE:PSQH) in 113 days – more than three weeks longer.

That’s also of course not the only superlative Black Spade and VinFast accomplished.

Their massive combination had the third largest enterprise value of any SPAC deal in history and was by far the largest close since LionHeart II completed its $32.6 billion combination with debt services firm MSP Recovery (NASDAQ:LIFW) in May 2022 and Altimeter Growth got it done with ride-hailing fintech Grab (NYSE:GRAB) in December 2021.

As with any de-SPAC, however, the hard work for VinFast now begins in proving that it is equal to its proposed valuation by performing. According to Black Spade’s F-4, the Vietnamese automaker generated about $343.9 million in revenue in 2022 and it has set an earnout goal for it to hit $1.875 billion in revenue in 2023.

VinFast manufactures a line of four EV cars and SUVs as well as e-scooters and e-buses for the Vietnamese and US markets.

It broke ground on its new North Carolina EV factory earlier this month as a part of its big move to enter the North American market. But its US sales from cars imported from its Southeast Asian factories have gone slower than expected and it reported dropping revenues in the first quarter of the year.

ADVISORS

• Black Spade Advisors:
  • Jones Trading Institutional Services is serving as financial advisor
• VinFast Advisors:
  • Chardan is serving as M&A advisor