The Ho Chi Minh City Police have initiated an investigation into VNG Corporation, Vietnam’s first tech unicorn, on September 6, the company confirmed in a statement.
“The investigation is still ongoing, and VNG continues to actively cooperate with the authorities, ensuring compliance with their requests,” it said, without divulging details. “VNG’s business and operations are confirmed to be operating normally.”
In a separate statement late on Friday, VNG announced that vice president Kelly Wong of VNG, will assume the role of acting CEO of the company. He will temporarily replace VNG founder Le Hong Minh to take over day-to-day operations.
In H1 2024, VNG posted 4.3 trillion dong ($175 million) in revenue. Its adjusted operating loss was 400 billion dong. VNG said its communication and payment platform Zalo had 77 million monthly active users in H1, a 2% increase year-on-year.
The 20-year-old company, which started as a gaming business, recently aimed to expand its cloud and enterprise services. It is also transforming ZaloPay from an e-wallet to an open payment platform.
The police investigation sent VNG’s share price down 7% on Sept 6. The firm currently trades on Vietnam’s Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM).
In June, VNG said it might consider listing on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE), after withdrawing its Nasdaq IPO plan.
Foreign investors in VNG include Chinese tech behemoths Tencent and Ant Group, as well as Singapore’s GIC and Temasek.
