Dragon Capital Group, one of the leading investment management companies in Vietnam, has plans to list its flagship fund on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Founded in 1994, the Dragon Capital Group is an integrated investment management company focused on Vietnam and the Mekong region. Dragon Capital and its affiliates manage $1.3 billion in assets spanning public equity, private equity, fixed income and property.
Launched in 1995, VEIL (managed by Dragon Capital) is the largest and longest-running fund focused on Vietnam with a Net Asset Value (NAV) of approximately $850 million.
London Listing
On 21 June 2016, VEIL will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting for the approval of certain matters relating to the proposed listing. It is expected that admission to trading of VEIL's shares on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange will take place in early July 2016.
The London listing is expected to create a more transparent and liquid market in VEIL's shares, widening potential ownership, attracting greater analyst coverage, increasing the company's profile and narrowing the discount to NAV at which the shares currently trade.
Post-listing, VEIL is expected to become a key vehicle for exposure to Vietnam given its size and equity-only investment mandate, appealing to both institutional and retail investors. Approximately half of VEIL's NAV is represented by stocks which are at their foreign ownership limits and cannot otherwise be accessed by foreign investors.
Benefitting From Recent Free Trade Agreement
«This is a milestone for VEIL and Dragon Capital. With the listing in London, we are responding to demand from a wide range of investors looking to benefit from Vietnam's growing economy. Increased access and transparency will overcome barriers for a number of institutional and retail investors,» said Dominic Scriven, Executive Chairman of Dragon Capital Group.
In macroeconomic terms, Vietnam has an attractive growth profile. GDP rose 6.7 percent in 2015. There are strong FDI inflows and a young, expanding and well-educated workforce. The country also stands to benefit from the recent Free Trade Agreement with the EU and the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
