GCash IPO price set at P6.6/share

Biggest in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — E-wallet giant GCash has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at P6.6 per share, settling for a rate lower than initial expectations but would still set up the country’s largest market debut.

GCash parent Mynt Inc. will offer its shares to the public at P6.6 a piece, a discount from earlier forecasts of between P7 and P10, several sources told The STAR.

At this pricing, Mynt will raise nearly P61 billion from its IPO, far from the initial projection of up to P92.3 billion at P10 a piece.

Mynt will generate about P53 billion from the primary sale and close to P8 billion from the overallotment option. The amount represents 8.03 billion common shares in the primary offer and 1.2 billion common shares in the overallotment lot.

The decision to price at P6.6 follows concerns raised by analysts that P10 may be too demanding given the economic landscape. Investors are dealing with currency depreciation, rising inflation and slower growth.

Unicapital Securities Inc. equity research analyst Peter Garnace earlier told The STAR that Mynt may struggle to convince investors to price its listing at a premium.

Had Mynt proceeded with P10, it would be valuing itself at around P670 billion, or roughly $11 billion, going beyond its initial reported equity of $8 billion.

At that value, Mynt will be coming in at a price-to-earnings ratio of 30 times, surpassing the P/E ratio of closest listed peer Nubank, which caters to over 135 million customers in Latin America.

Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales Luis Limlingan said P10 would mean that Mynt is aligning itself with Southeast Asia’s most successful unicorns Grab and Sea Ltd. However, he noted it might be challenging to land such premiums.

Still, an IPO worth P61 billion will record the country’s largest market debut. Likewise, Mynt is already secured with P36.5 billion in commitments from cornerstone investors BlackRock Inc., Capital Research and Management Co., International Finance Corp., among others.

The shares will be offered to the public from Oct. 6 to 12 and listed on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Oct. 20.

GCash is the country’s leading financial technology service, serving an active monthly user base of 41.5 million, representing 56 percent of Filipino adults.