VNG's headquarters in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Photo: Thu Van/Tuoi Tre)

The listing will make VNG the first technology firm from Vietnam to list in the US. 

VNG said in the filing that it planned to offer some 21.7 million shares, with the proposed price range yet to be set. 

IPO proceeds will be used to pay original foreign investors who were direct shareholders of the company and repay outstanding loans, among others, the filing showed. The company counts the likes of Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent  and Singapore state investor Temasek as shareholders. 

Founded in 2004, VNG was Vietnam’s first unicorn, or startup valued at 1 billion USD or more. The Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered company’s businesses include online games, payments, cloud services and Vietnam’s most popular messaging app, Zalo. 

Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Bank of America are underwriters of the IPO, according to the filing. 

VNG's IPO follows the recent US listing debut by VinFast and could help to add momentum for other Southeast Asian companies seeking IPO in the US.