Monde Nissin raises P48.6-B after investors swarm its historic IPO

MANILA, Philippines — Food giant Monde Nissin Corp. successfully completed its record-breaking maiden share sale, raising P48.6 billion on the back of very strong demand from investors.

Investor appetite for Nissin’s initial public offering — the largest ever in the country’s history — was so robust that the shares were “multiple times oversubscribed”, meaning orders booked for the stocks exceeded the size of the offer. Nissin completed its blockbuster IPO on Tuesday, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company behind the hugely popular Lucky Me! Noodles offered 3.6 billion common shares at P13.50 each, with an option to sell 540 million more shares if there is a great interest for the offer. For Nissin, the results of its maiden share sale “reflects the attractive long-term growth opportunities” for its business.

Nissin is scheduled to list its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on June 1.

“The extraordinary level of interest that we received from a broad range of international and domestic investors is a testament to the world-class company that we have built and the significant growth opportunities that lie ahead,” Henry Soesanto, company chief executive, said.

As it is, the Nissin IPO, including overallotments, is so massive it beat capital raised by Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., which held the title of the biggest IPO when it debuted in the PSE in 2013. 

The timing of listing also comes at a time local firms had been tapping the financial markets to raise cash following lockdowns that crippled their operations and tarnished their balance sheets. However, Nissin appeared to have survived the pandemic crunch having increased profits 21.3% year-on-year to P8 billion in 2020.

Net sales, meanwhile, grew 3.8% on-year to P67.9 billion.