GCash Owner Gets Approval for Up to $1.5 Billion Philippines IPO

The company behind GCash, the biggest mobile wallet app in the Philippines, received approval from the country’s stock exchange operator of an initial public offering of as much as 92.3 billion pesos ($1.47 billion), 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 capitalization 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 $530 million, 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.

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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. The deal could exceed the 2021 IPO of Monde Nissin Corp., which raised about 55.9 billion pesos. The company offers investors exposure to a population of more than 110 million people who are increasingly using digital payments rather than cash.

Morgan Stanley & Co. International PLC, J.P. Morgan Securities Plc and UBS AG Singapore Branch are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, while Jefferies Singapore Limited, CLSA Limited and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Singapore Branch are the international joint bookrunners. BPI Capital Corp., BDO Capital & Investment Corp., AB Capital & Investment Corp. and First Metro Investment Corp. are the domestic lead underwriters.