Vincom Retail, the shopping mall subsidiary of Vingroup has launched Vietnam’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO), in a deal worth up to US$713 million.

The largest shopping mall operator in Vietnam, Vincom Retail owns 41 commercial centers throughout the nation. Its popular brands include Vincom Center, Vincom Mega Mall, Vincom Plaza, and Vincom+.

The IPO will take place on the HCM Stock Exchange (HOSE) consisting of 380.22 million shares for institutional investors and another 19 million for retail investors.

Meanwhile, the price range for the shares are set in an indicative range of 37,000 to 40,600 dong apiece, which translates to about US$1.63 to US$1.79.

This would place the offering at up to 16.2 trillion dong (about US$713 million) with all proceeds going to Vincom Retail private equity investors and other shareholders.

According to Bloomberg, Singapore sovereign fund GIC Pte and Franklin Templeton Investments are among cornerstone buyers that have agreed to purchase about $382 million of stock, or 59 percent of the base offering.

At present, Vincom Retail has two foreign shareholders – Warburg Pincus and Credit Suisse AG – which owns 15.7 percent and 5.06 percent of the mall operator respectively.

Even before the IPO, the operations of Vincom Retail has been among the most profitable segments in VinGroup.

According to the company’s first-half financial report, the business line has earned more than 2.88 trillion dong (about US$126.78 million) in revenue for the first six months.