SPAC to Nasdaq: deal hands auto tycoon $39B overnight

investmentnews.com:

Its electric cars have been dogged by poor reviews and it’s on pace to make fewer sales this year than General Motors Co. does in a week. 

Yet that hasn’t stopped VinFast Auto Ltd. from becoming the latest beneficiary of speculative fervor around newly minted SPAC deals — many of which end up tumbling over the long-term.The Vietnamese automaker’s shares surged 255% Tuesday when it debuted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, pushing the company’s market capitalization above that of industry giants GM and Mercedes-Benz Group AG. It added $39 billion to the net worth of chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, whose fortune now stands at $44.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.At the current market capitalization, VinFast is about six times bigger than Chinese EV maker XPeng Inc., which went public in the US in 2020.VinFast is the latest example of a thinly traded company soaring on its debut after completing a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. Many have experienced eye-popping rallies that ended a few trading sessions after the merger closed, as traders look to make a quick profit on companies with limited shares — meaning the jump in Vuong’s wealth may be short-lived.De-SPACs — the term for firms that go public via a SPAC merger — that have made their debut this year have seen a median slump of about 45%, with 18 of them wiping out more than 70% of their value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Regulatory filings show Vuong, Vietnam’s richest man, directly and indirectly controls 99% of the company’s outstanding shares, mostly through his conglomerate, Vingroup JSC. That large stake limits the shares available for other investors to trade, meaning the stock is prone to large swings. The