MANILA: The company behind GCash, the biggest mobile wallet app in the Philippines, has received approval from the country’s stock exchange operator of an initial public offering (IPO) of as much as 92.3 billion pesos (US$1.47bil), clearing the final regulatory hurdle for a record debut.
Mynt Inc has received the Philippine Stock Exchange’s notice of approval for its listing application, shareholder Globe Telecom Inc said in a disclosure, adding that it will disclose further details at the appropriate time.
Mynt will offer as many as 1.61 billion primary shares and as many as 6.42 billion secondary shares for as much as 10 pesos each, giving it a market capitalisation of 668.9 billion pesos at the high end, the stock exchange said in a notice, with net proceeds earmarked to expand digital financial services, product development, and general corporate purposes.
The final price will be set on Oct 1, with allocations from Oct 6 to 12 and a listing on Oct 20.
The IPO will be the first listing this year in the Philippines, where the stock market has grappled with low trading volumes, a spate of delistings and a lack of investor confidence.
Listings last year has raised about US$530mil, the most since a record year in 2021, largely thanks to the debut of Maynilad Water Services Inc in October.
Mynt’s key shareholders include Globe, Ant International and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
GCash began as Globe’s text-based money transfer service in 2004 and has grown to 90 million registered users.
The app has expanded into credit, investments and savings services from payments, becoming ubiquitous since the pandemic.
Market participants have been waiting for the IPO for some time.
Regulators have eased the rules on the minimum public float requirement to encourage large listings. — Bloomberg
