GCash IPO Price May Be Lowered Amid Investor Talk

MANILA, Philippines — Mynt Inc., the parent company of e-wallet giant GCash, is expected to settle on a slightly lower offer price for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), which is still expected to be the largest in the country’s history. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. president Eduardo Francisco told The STAR that Mynt’s IPO price may hover between P7.50 and P8.50 per share, below the maximum P10 offer price indicated in the company’s prospectus. “Remember the P10 is an ‘up to’ price. Nothing is final, but I understand that we’re still talking to investors,” Francisco said. “My suspicion is if they lower the price to, let’s say, P7.50 to P8.50, I think there’s a deal to be done. Nothing official, but if they tighten the price, which we also do in other deals, we see that there will be enough orders in the P7.50 to P8.50 range,” he said. At that range, Francisco said those waiting and saying that the offer price is too high would hopefully participate. “Realistically, if it goes to the P7.50 to P8.50 range, at least there’s a deal to be done. So it becomes more reasonable,” he said. BDO Capital and BPI Capital Corp. serve as the domestic lead underwriters and joint bookrunners for the offer. Mynt will offer up to 1.61 billion common shares as part of the primary offer, while a selling shareholder will offer and sell up to 6.42 billion shares. The offer also includes an overallotment option of up to 1.20 billion shares. The proposed offering, at an offer price of up to P10 per share, could raise gross proceeds of up to P92.3 billion if the overallotment option is fully exercised. However, at a potential P7.50 to P8.50 range, gross proceeds may reach between P69.23 billion and P78.46 billion, still surpassing Monde Nissin’s P55.89 billion IPO in 2021. The SEC cleared Mynt’s IPO last week, which will be the country’s first IPO of the year. The pricing date is eyed for Oct. 1. The offer period is targeted to run from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, with a target listing on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker “GCASH” on Oct. 20.