GCash now prefers debut in PSE to Wall Street
Digital payments giant GCash, a unit of telco giant Globe Telecom Inc., is not too keen anymore on making a market debut at Wall Street, saying that a local listing is now the preferred choice.
Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu, on the sidelines of the e-wallet platform’s 20th anniversary celebration held in Pasay on Thursday evening, said the company was “less likely” to pursue the listing in the US because it would be “too much work.”
Earlier this year, GCash floated the idea of launching its own IPO to scale the business. But the popular financial technology player has yet to schedule the much anticipated initial public offering, saying it was still observing the market.
“We’re getting ready for the right time. We don’t when it is,” he said.
Martha Sazon, president and CEO of GCash holding company Mynt, said they were well-funded for now, adding that the company has no definite plans yet with the IPO.
“We just did our fundraising. We’re profitable. We’re still reeling from the last round,” Sazon said.
GCash achieved a valuation of $5 billion after receiving capital infusion from Ayala Corp. and MUFG Bank Ltd. in August.
Analysts said this could make the company more attractive to investors when it decides to finally go public.
The latest deal made GCash the first unicorn in the country to achieve the $5-billion valuation, a marked increase from $2 billion from the last funding round in 2021.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley was the exclusive financial advisor to Mynt for the transaction.
Mynt tripled its net income to P6.7 billion last year. The homegrown brand has been expanding its presence in markets abroad, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Japan, Germany, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea.
So far this year, the Philippine Stock Exchange has welcomed OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc., NexGen Energy Corp. and Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. Cebu-based fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp. is the fourth company set to make its market debut this year.
