Fintech firm secures board approval for IPO

CEBU, Philippines — Mynt, the fintech company behind the Philippines’ dominant mobile wallet GCash, has secured shareholder and board approval to pursue an initial public offering (IPO), marking the first formal step toward what could become the country’s largest-ever stock market listing.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Wednesday, the company said that its board of directors and shareholders authorized the filing of a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a listing application with the PSE, paving the way for a potential public debut.

Under the approved structure, the IPO would represent 12 percent of Mynt’s outstanding capital stock following the listing and will include both newly issued shares and shares sold by existing investors. The company’s common shares carry a par value of three centavos each.

The move advances long-standing plans for a public offering by Mynt, one of Southeast Asia’s most valuable fintech firms, following years of rapid expansion in the Philippines’ digital payments and financial services market.

Mynt did not disclose a target valuation, fundraising size or timetable for the transaction.

“The authorization of our board and shareholders allows us to work toward a potential public listing as the next step in Mynt’s growth journey, while continuing to focus on the priorities that have brought us to this point,” President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martha Sazon said in a statement.

The planned listing comes as GCash continues to strengthen its position in the country’s financial ecosystem. Mynt accounted for 30 percent of Globe Telecom Inc.’s pre-tax earnings in the first quarter, highlighting the growing contribution of the fintech business to the telecommunications company’s profitability.

Globe reported that its equity earnings from Mynt rose 8 percent from a year earlier to P1.9 billion during the January-to-March period and more than doubled from the previous quarter.

Market expectations for a Mynt IPO have been building since reports emerged last year that the company had engaged advisers including Citi, Jefferies and UBS for a potential domestic share sale valued at as much as $1.5 billion.

If completed at that scale, the transaction would eclipse the $1 billion initial public offering of Monde Nissin Corp. in 2021, currently the largest IPO in Philippine history. The listing would also provide a landmark liquidity event for the country’s startup ecosystem, which has historically had limited public-market exit opportunities.

Founded in 2015, Mynt operates GCash through G-Xchange Inc. and owns digital lending platform Fuse Financing. Its shareholders include Globe Telecom Inc., Ayala Corp., China’s Ant Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

The proposed offering remains subject to regulatory approvals, market conditions and the final structure of the transaction.

Sazon said a public listing could help encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among local technology companies while reinforcing the Philippines’ position as an emerging fintech hub in Southeast Asia.