Vietnamese private equity-backed financial services firm F88 is filing to list on the Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) within 30 days.
The company said the State Securities Commission has approved its application to become a public company. It plans to list on UPCoM as early as July.
UPCoM is an intermediate bourse that allows local companies to test the water before listing on official stock exchanges.
The move serves as a stepping stone towards its goal of debuting on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange by 2027 – three years later than originally planned.
Despite the delay, F88 continues to target a $1 billion valuation upon listing.
F88 said it expected to bring in a strategic investor next year while raising more than 700 billion dong ($27 million) this year via a bond transaction.
Investors in its cap table include Mekong Capital, Vietnam Oman Investment and Granite Oak. The company also raised debts from Lending Ark Asia and Lendable.
F88 posted after-tax profit of 351 billion dong ($13.5 million) in 2024, compared to a loss of 545 billion dong a year earlier. To sustain the public listing ambition, the company must continue to record profit this year and next year.
In Q1 2025, it announced a 25% increase in disbursement to 3.3 trillion dong. Revenue and profit before tax in the period rose 21.5% (to 820 billion dong) and 204.1% (to 132 billion dong), respectively.
F88 is eyeing more than 30% growth in both revenue and profit this year.
