Startups’ IPO plans may be delayed for several years because of COVID-19

For startups, growing enough to become a public company through an IPO (initial public offering) is an important goal, reported Saigon Economic Times

This can help them raise funds to make a breakthrough and become a unicorn with capitalization value of $1 billion or higher.

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However, with Covid-19, the fulfilment of the dream may be delayed for several years.

Of the Vietnamese startups with capitalization value of over $100 million, only Yeah 1 lists its shares on the bourse. VNG unofficially lists shares on OTC.

A representative of Yeah 1 said it took the firm 12 years to prepare for an IPO. The Covid-19 epidemic may make the process even longer.

Before the IPO period, Yeah 1 had to hire an auditing firm to prepare financial and legal documents to ensure the process would go smoothly, according to Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong, chair of Yeah 1 Group.

Asked about the possibility of startup IPOs in the time to come, Tong said small and medium businesses have been facing difficulties that have worsened during COVID-19.

However, he thinks this is the great opportunity for startups to find breakthrough solutions, especially businesses in the healthcare sector.

For startups, growing enough to become a public company through an IPO (initial public offering) is an important goal.

Under current regulations, businesses must make a profit in the last two years to be eligible to list shares.

They must have minimum capital of VND120 billion if they want to list shares at the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE), and VND30 billion to list shares at the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

Analysts commented that the requirements are very difficult even for enterprises in normal conditions, let alone in the Covid-19 crisis, when they face problems with cash flow.

In the e-commerce sector, Tiki still cannot satisfy the requirements for an IPO because it has incurred a loss of trillions of dong.

In the case of Yeah 1, YEG share was a ‘star’ with a reference price of VND250,000 per share when it hit the bourse and increased to ceiling levels in the next trading sessions to VND340,000 per share.

However, YEG fell dramatically when local newspapers reported that YouTube had stopped cooperating with Yeah 1. The shares are traded at under VND50,000 per share.

Analysts believe that investment funds are focusing on settling startups’ existing core problems instead of thinking of IPOs, which are considered impractical for now.

Tens of Vietnamese startups have announced they have successfully called for capital this year, despite the Covid-19 epidemic, which is good news for the community of startups.

translated by Mai Lan