Is VNG's Vietnam listing just a stopover en route to US markets?

Opening Bell 🔔 is Tech in Asia’s free newsletter that brings you the biggest news and latest trends around Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. [Read from your browser]( Opening Bell 🔔 Welcome to the Opening Bell! Delivered every Monday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and latest trends on Asia’s publicly listed tech companies. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Written by Simon Huang Journalist Hello {NAME} A few years ago, my friends played a prank on me. They told me our Vietnamese friend was the son of Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the prime minister of Vietnam at the time - they did have the same family name. But I was too smart to fall for that. After all, Nguyen is one of the most common Vietnamese family names. However, I then did a Google search and compared photos of my friend’s father with those of the Prime Minister. The resemblance was uncanny. For the next two weeks, I actually thought he was the son of Vietnam’s prime minister. Nguyen Xuan Phuc later became president of Vietnam. The country he led has been on a tear in the past few years, attracting lots of investor interest. VNG Group, Vietnam’s first tech unicorn, is hoping to ride that wave of interest by listing on the confusingly named Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) - a board for firms in the country that are not yet listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. In [this week’s big story]( my colleague, Huong, analyzes the company’s financial statements and business prospects. Ultimately, VNG may be eyeing a listing in the US, with the listing on UPCoM purely to meet legal compliance. The question is whether foreign investors will find the company attractive enough, given that its business is largely domestic. While the Vietnamese market has lots of potential, it is still an emerging market and has faced political uncertainty recently, with top leaders forced to resign amid allegations of corruption. The biggest head to roll so far? President Nguyen resigned last month. Perhaps it's a good thing my friend isn’t actually his son! -- Simon  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Analyzing VNG's surprise listing and prospectus]( VNG's dream of listing in the US might not be over, but will foreign investors find it attractive enough? ---------------------------------------------------------------  3 TRENDS TO KEEP EYE ON 1️⃣ Hidenburg takes aim at Adani: US shortseller Hindenburg Research revealed having a short position in Adani Group, making allegations that have [wiped out more than US$80 billion in market value]( from the Indian conglomerate’s seven listed companies. Shortsellers - which bet on a company’s share price being overvalued - are on the extreme end of a company’s spectrum of investors. Activist investors, on the other hand, also look for mispricings in companies but fight for changes they think will push the company’s share price up. Recently, even tech companies like [Salesforce]( (CRM, NYSE) and [Alphabet]( (GOOGL, NDAQ) have attracted the attention of activist investors. So far, Southeast Asia’s listed tech companies like Sea (SE, NYSE) and Grab (GRAB, NDAQ) have not had to deal with activist investors or prominent shortsellers like Hindenburg. This could be because they have already taken [well-publicized steps to cut costs]( and have not embarked on major value-destroying M&As. It isn’t easy being a shortseller or activist investor. Hindenburg, for example, has been accused by Adani of making a “calculated attack on India.” But shortsellers form a vital part of the capital markets ecosystem, and their attempts to uncover hard truths should be welcomed. 2️⃣ Spotify looks to Asia for growth: Spotify (SPOT, NYSE), the music-streaming and podcasting giant [reported]( that its totally monthly active users (MAU) grew to 489 million users in the fourth quarter of 2022 - 10 million users over its guidance and up from 456 million users in the previous quarter. The company attributed this to outperformance in the “rest of world” region - countries not in its North America, Europe, and Latin America segments. Specifically, successful marketing campaigns had an outsized impact on India and Indonesia, which are two of the world’s four most populous countries. Given the much larger populations in rest-of-world countries, expect this segment to play an increasing role in driving MAU growth. Its share of Spotify’s MAU has risen from 12% in Q4 2018 to 28% today. However, the question is whether user growth in these countries, which are less affluent than developed countries, will translate into topline growth for Spotify as its model relies on a mix of subscriptions and ads to generate revenue. 3️⃣ China-based insurtech lists on NASDAQ: How’s this for a blast from the past? Cheche Technology, a Chinese auto-insurance firm, has been [listed on the Nasdaq]( through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Prime Impact Acquisition I. After the past few years of US-China tensions and the implosion of the SPAC market in the US, this seems like a headline from a different era. Granted, Cheche is a minnow by Chinese standards - its revenue for 2022 was around US$360 million. However, the fact that a Chinese company went public in the US may be a sign of thawing tensions between the the world’s two top economies and reflect Beijing’s desire to return to some form of normalcy following the crackdown on Chinese tech and economically destructive Covid-zero policies of the past few years. 2 EYE-POPPING NUMBERS Tech in Asia scours the internet to bring you head-turning numbers from the world of business. - [2000]( The number of jobs payments company PayPal (PYPL, NDAQ) is cutting from its global workforce over the coming weeks - nearly 7% of the company’s total headcount. - [US$100 million]( The size of the fund that Japanese financial services giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306, TYO) is launching with Indonesia’s Bank Danamon (BDMN, IDX) to target series B fintech startups in the country. THE ONE YOU DIDN'T SEE COMING We spotlight the story that had everyone talking and social media buzzing during the past week. Tin Pei Ling, Grab's new director of public affairs and policy for Singapore / Photo credit: Tin Pei Ling's Facebook page[/caption] Grab recruits Singapore politician as director of public affairs Tin Pei Ling, a member of parliament in Singapore, has been [appointed]( as Grab’s (GRAB, NDAQ) Singapore director of public affairs and policy. Tin is a member of the country’s ruling People’s Action Party and has been a member of parliament since 2011. MPs in Singapore who are not in ministerial positions are free to take roles in the private sector. Most serve in the parliament while continuing their full-time jobs. Many MPs and former government ministers are on the boards of directors of the city-state’s blue-chip companies. However, it is unusual for a sitting MP to also have a full-time role directly relating to public affairs and policy. The appointment comes as tech companies around the world face greater scrutiny from governments and regulators. So don’t be surprised to see more parliamentarians and former regulators taking on roles with these companies across the region. That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to our preference center at the bottom of this email. Happy investing and see you next week! Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. 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