MANILA: Mynt Inc, the operator of the mobile-payments app GCash, has gained in its debut after the biggest-ever initial public offering (IPO) in the Philippines.
The shares rose as much as 2.1% to 6.74 pesos (11 US cents) in early trading yesterday. Mynt sold 8.03 billion shares at 6.60 pesos apiece to raise about 53 billion pesos (US$840mil), topping noodle maker Monde Nissin Corp’s offering in 2021.
The fintech firm’s IPO, a rare play on the country’s expanding digital economy, drew cornerstone commitments from more than 20 investors, including BlackRock Inc, FIL Investment Management and Schroders.
It values Mynt at about 442 billion pesos, which would make it the third-largest listed financial firm in the Philippines and the seventh-largest overall, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The enthusiasm about the deal has raised some hopes for the broader market, which has been dominated by banks, property developers and conglomerates.
Market watchers are keen to see if a new-economy stock can help win global funds, which are on track to sell Philippine equities for a ninth straight year.
“GCash would broaden the Philippine market, particularly given the shortage of genuine growth stocks,” said Gary Tan, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments in Singapore.
Philippine stocks have struggled over the past decade due to structural challenges like limited market diversity and sluggish turnover.
The country’s weight in MSCI Inc’s global emerging-markets index has shrunk to almost nothing while the MSCI Philippines Index has just nine members, with one port operator accounting for almost 45% of the benchmark.
The energy shock unleashed by the Middle East war has also weighed on local assets this year.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slumped to an 11-month low earlier in October while the peso has hit a record low. — Bloomberg
