(Sept 22): BlackRock, Capital Group and Schroders are among investors poised to buy into the initial public offering of the company behind the Philippines’ top mobile wallet, GCash, which is telling investors it’s on track to price the deal below the maximum, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mynt Inc is set to raise about 60 billion pesos (US$957 million or RM3.9 billion), selling 9.23 billion shares at about 6.50 pesos apiece, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. That’s below the 10 pesos maximum that the company announced when it filed for the IPO in June. International Finance Corp, part of the World Bank Group, is also among the 20 cornerstone investors set to take up around 70% of the deal, they said.
Even at the dialled-back price, the IPO is set to be the biggest ever in the Philippines, where the stock market has grappled with low trading volumes, a spate of delistings and a lack of investor confidence. The offering is on track to surpass that of noodle maker Monde Nissin Corp, which raised about 55.9 billion pesos in 2021, the country’s biggest to date.
Representatives for Mynt and Capital Group declined to comment. BlackRock, Schroders and IFC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Philippine Stock Exchange last week approved Mynt’s offer, which includes 1.61 billion primary shares, 6.42 billion secondary securities and overallotment option of up to 1.2 billion secondary shares.
The IPO could help revive investor interest in the Southeast Asian nation, bringing to the market a household name with more than 90 million registered users, about three quarters of the population. It will be the first listing this year in the Philippines.
Once one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, the Philippines is now among its weakest, weighed down by the impact of the Iran war and a domestic corruption scandal.
The GCash app, which began as Globe Telecom Inc’s text-based money transfer service in 2004, has expanded into credit, investment and savings services from payments, becoming ubiquitous since the Covid pandemic.
Mynt IPO’s final price will be set on Oct 1, with the offer period scheduled for Oct 6 to 12. Listing on the PSE is expected on Oct 20.
Apart from Globe, Mynt’s key shareholders include Ayala Corp, Ant International and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. The GCash operator plans to use the proceeds from the share sale to expand digital financial services, product development and general corporate purposes.
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