THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Tuesday the planned initial public offering (IPO) of Mynt Inc., operator of e-wallet GCash, shows the Philippine capital market’s capacity to accommodate large-scale fund-raising activities.
SEC Chairman Francis Lim said the offering, which is expected to become the largest fundraising activity in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), could demonstrate the depth of investor demand and opportunities available in the local stock market.
“An offering of this magnitude is a most welcome development. It demonstrates that the Philippine capital market has the capacity to absorb sizeable equity transactions and mobilize investor demand at scale — sending a strong signal to other companies considering the capital markets as a means of raising capital and expanding their businesses,” Lim said.
He added that Mynt’s broad user base could help widen retail participation in the capital market by bringing more Filipinos into equities as investors and shareholders.
“The SEC welcomes this offering as part of our continuing efforts to make the Philippine capital market deeper, more inclusive, and more competitive. In this context, we hope that the IPO will be priced at a level that provides meaningful upside potential for both local and foreign participants,” Lim said.
Mynt’s IPO involves an offer of up to 9.23 billion common shares at an indicative price of up to P10 each.
The offering consists of an initial tranche of 8.027 billion shares and up to 1.2 billion secondary shares under an oversubscription option.
The offer period is scheduled for Oct. 6 to 12, following final price setting on Oct. 1.
The company is set to list on the PSE on Oct. 20 under the trading symbol “GCASH.”
Philstocks Financial Inc. research manager Japhet Tantiangco said successful major IPOs in the coming months could help improve investor sentiment and participation in the local equities market toward the end of the year.
“Investors are really looking towards this. Investors are really looking towards these IPOs. If they perform well as they get into the market, then there’s the possibility that they could revive investor sentiment, and they could invite more investor participation in the market,” he added.
Investors were said to be closely watching major primary market activities, including the Mynt offering, with their performance potentially helping lift market sentiment ahead of the traditional year-end rally.
