Maynilad shares debuting at P15 apiece
Maynilad Water Services Inc. wants to raise P34.33 billion from its initial public offering (IPO) of P15 per share, the last debut at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) for this year.
In a notice on Tuesday, the PSE said Maynilad would offer 1.66 billion common shares to the public and 24.91 million shares to First Pacific Co. Ltd.
The IPO has an overallotment option of up to 249.05 million shares and an upsize option of as much as 354.7 million secondary shares.
The offer period will run from Oct. 23 to Oct. 29, and Maynilad is set to list under the ticker “MYNLD” on Nov. 7. That will be just over a year ahead of its January 2027 deadline with the government.
The public listing is a requirement of Maynilad’s concession agreement with the government through the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.
If fully subscribed, Maynilad’s IPO will be the largest since Monde Nissin Corp.’s stock market debut in 2021, when the latter raised a record P48.6 billion.
The final price comes after Maynilad’s cornerstone investment agreement with the International Finance Corp. (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The IFC committed to invest $100 million and the ADB $245 million into Maynilad’s IPO. That is, if the offer price did not exceed P15 each.
Apart from IFC and ADB, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office is also pledging its support for Maynilad’s IPO through its Mobilising Institutional Capital Through Listed Product Structures (Mobilist) program.
Citicore, too
This is the same agency that pitched in $12.5 million into the IPO of Edgar Saavedra-led Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. last year. That enabled Citicore to raise P5.3 billion from its stock market debut.
Since then, the UK government has committed to boost trade and investment flows to the Philippines, particularly looking at sustainability-related projects.
For its part, Maynilad recently received the Philippines’ first Green Equity label. This would enable the firm to attract more investors by tagging its shares as “green” prior to its offer.
At the same time, asset management firm Robeco Switzerland Ltd. is also participating as a cornerstone investor for an investment size of up to $20 million.
Maynilad’s IPO will be the last for the local bourse in 2025. This year has proven to be a challenging one for local equities as investors navigate geopolitical conflict, trade tensions and domestic corruption scandals.
So far, Cebu-based fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp. is the only company to have listed this year, raising P732 million.
