Major funds’ commitments signal confidence in GCash IPO
The participation of more than 20 local and foreign institutional investors in Mynt Inc.’s initial public offering (IPO) reflects confidence in the company’s long-term growth prospects, according to a hedge fund manager.
Eric Jurado, manager of the Southeast Asia Focus Portfolio, said these investors had conducted their own due diligence before committing capital to the fintech giant.
Their participation does not guarantee the success of the investment, he said. However, it suggests that professional investors believe the potential returns justify the risks.
“An investment in Mynt is, in part, an investment in the continued digitization of the Philippine economy,” Jurado said.
Mynt is seeking to raise up to P92.32 billion by selling as many as 9.23 billion shares at a maximum indicative price of P10 each.
The base offer covers 8.027 billion shares, consisting of 1.61 billion primary shares and 6.42 billion secondary shares. It also includes a greenshoe option of up to 1.2 billion secondary shares.
The company earlier said commitments from institutional investors had effectively covered the entire 70-percent allocation for qualified institutional buyers.
Participating foreign institutions include units of BlackRock, Capital Research, Fidelity, HSBC Global Asset Management, International Finance Corp., Ninety One, T. Rowe Price and Schroders.
Local participants include ATRAM Trust Corp., BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., Metrobank Trust Banking Group, Philequity Management Inc. and RCBC Capital Corp.
Mynt will set the final offer price on Oct. 1 following the book-building process. Some funds were reportedly eyeing a price of about P6.50 per share.
The public offer will run from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12. The shares are scheduled to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Oct. 20 under the ticker symbol “GCASH.”
PSE president Ramon Monzon earlier clarified that P10 was only the maximum indicative price. The final price will depend on investor demand during book-building.
Monzon said previous IPOs were typically priced at around 70 percent to 72 percent of their maximum indicative prices.
He added that Mynt’s offering demonstrated the resilience of the local capital market despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties.
Retail investors may subscribe through G-Stock investments on the GCash app.
Jurado said GCash’s established infrastructure and large customer base would be difficult and costly for new competitors to reproduce.
The platform has 41.5 million monthly active users, equivalent to nearly 56 percent of the country’s adult population.
Its ecosystem also serves 7.5 million active borrowers, 17.9 million savings accounts, 9.2 million investment fund accounts and about 2 million local stock market accounts.
