Novare eyes public offer

MANILA, Philippines — MDI Novare Technologies is considering listing in the Philippine stock market as part of its business expansion.

MDI Novare Technologies chairman Myla Villanueva said the planned initial public offering would depend on timing.

“We have always run ourselves as if we were a public company already. So, we are prepared at any time. But timing is always important in those decisions,” she said.

MDI recently entered into a multi-billion peso investment deal with Japanese private equity firm Advantage Partners (AP). The company has investments in 43 companies across a range of industries.  Its main limited partners include Marubeni Corp. and Mitsui & Co.

Villanueva said even before the pandemic, MDI was already seeing robust and exponential growth.

Emmett Thomas, AP’s head of Asia, remains optimistic about the growth prospects of MDI as it aims to further develop the country’s digitalization efforts and make it globally competitive and recognized.

“I think it would be a very successful IPO,” said Thomas, adding that the firm is excited to work and further build the capacity of the local leader in IT services.

Villanueva, who is considered as the country’s tech pioneer and digital maven, said MDI’s partnership with AP would facilitate the company’s goal to achieve its full potential as a trusted digital transformation partner for market leaders, both here and in the region.

“As we enter into this milestone partnership, we are confident that this will pave the way for more expansion opportunities for MDI and introduce more innovations and digital solutions that would help the country prepare for the next future, towards a more digitized world,” Villanueva said.

MDI Novare was founded in 1988 as a leader in the local IT market. It caters to blue chip companies in the Philippines, helping its clients drive digital transformation through application development, infrastructure, data analytics, and IT security. It also has industry expertise in telecommunications, financial services, public industries, and domestic conglomerates.