Deutsche Bank AG and SeaTown Holdings International are among the lenders providing a US$510 million ($649.7 million) private credit loan to VinFast Auto Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.
The facility for VinFast, an electric vehicle maker owned by Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup JSC, pays high-single digit returns, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. was the sole financial adviser for VinFast and Vingroup for the deal, according to a LinkedIn announcement.
A Vingroup representative confirmed the fundraising, saying it helps support VinFast’s business operations. “The loan has been secured on favourable commercial terms, given the current market conditions,” the representative said, without elaborating on the details of the deal. Meanwhile, spokespeople for Deutsche Bank and SeaTown declined to comment.
VinFast has been tapping the loan market to fund its expansion plans regionally as it looks to compete with other global EV makers. The sector has become highly competitive with deep price cuts that are eating into earnings.
Vingroup founder and chairman, Pham Nhat Vuong, who’s also VinFast’s chief executive officer, said last year that the company will continue to have his support until he runs “out of money”, Bloomberg News reported.
VinFast is in talks with local Indian lenders for a US$200 million loan, as it looks to expand in the world’s third-biggest car market, Bloomberg News reported. It also secured a 1.84 trillion rupiah (US$114 million) syndicated facility in April from Bank Negara Indonesia and Maybank Indonesia to fund its factory development in Indonesia’s West Java province.
