$27 Billion Deal Shows SPAC Silliness Is Back: Chris Bryant

Just when you think blank-check firms are dead in the water, a cash-burning Vietnamese electric-vehicle manufacturer announces it’s going public in the US via a SPAC. The purported $27 billion valuation (which includes debt) would make it the third-largest such transaction in history.

However, the merger of VinFast Auto Pte. Ltd. with Hong Kong-based Black Spade Acquisition Co. announced Friday feels more like an act of desperation than a revival of a maligned asset class. The transaction won’t raise much money and the purported valuation looks as rocky as VinFast’s US vehicles.

Founded in 2017 and backed by Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat ...