MVP: Strong investor support to buoy Maynilad public offer

MANILA, Philippines — Maynilad Water Services Inc. chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan is hopeful that the company will sustain the strong feedback it has been receiving for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) despite market volatility.

“The feedback we’re getting is quite positive. Hopefully, it will keep to that until Maynilad is ready to launch, and I think we should be okay pretty soon,” Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan, however, said the market volatility remains a factor in the water utility firm’s upcoming IPO.

“That’s a big question mark. But hopefully, it holds up,” he said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved on May 30  Maynilad’s IPO, which is currently targeted next month.

The company’s maiden offering covers 1.93 billion primary and 354.70 million secondary shares.

Maynilad intends to offer up to 1.66 billion common shares to the public at up to P20 apiece, with an overallotment option of up to 249.05 million shares and a preferential offer of up to 24.90 million shares.

The secondary shares that are part of the offer will be sold by the company’s shareholder, Maynilad Water Holding Co. Inc.

Assuming the overallotment option and preferential offer are fully subscribed, the SEC said that Maynilad could net up to P37.41 billion from the IPO.

The company will use proceeds to fund capital expenditures and for general corporate purposes.

The offer period is targeted to run from July 3 to 9, with the shares expected to be listed on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on July 17.

Maynilad has tapped BPI Capital Corp., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte. and UBS AG Singapore Branch as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the offer.

The offering continues to represent at least 30 percent of Maynilad’s outstanding capital stock, consistent with the requirement under its legislative franchise.

The company, whose new franchise became effective on January 22, 2022, has until January 21, 2027 to list its shares on the PSE.

Maynilad is the government’s concessionaire providing water services in the West Zone of Metro Manila.

The company is jointly owned by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), DMCI Holdings of the Consunji family and Marubeni Corp. of Japan.

MPIC owns about 53 percent of the water utility firm, while DMCI and Marubeni hold 25 percent and 20 percent stake, respectively.