The much awaited Maynilad IPO

It was once upon a time a troubled company with negative equity, which means it owed its banks and lenders more than its assets were worth. 

Now, Maynilad Water Services Inc., the erstwhile debt-saddled water services provider, is IPO-bound, among the biggest listings in the local bourse’s history and may yet be the catalyst that could resuscitate our anemic stock market. 

Maynilad will debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange at P15 per share, potentially raising up to P34.3 billion.

The market is excited, I heard, just as excited as Maynilad’s principal shareholders – Metro Pacific Investments Corp., DMCI Holdings and Marubeni Corp. – and its competent management led by the brilliant and indefatigable Ramoncito Fernandez, its president and CEO. 

Maynilad’s journey is quite a storied one. It started as a promise – a litmus test of privatization under the Ramos administration when it was formed in 1997. Birth pains led to a mountain of debt, leaving its original owners, led by Lopez-owned Benpres Holdings, with little choice but to exit the firm. A Manuel V. Pangilinan-led consortium took over. Then came supply and regulatory concerns and later, a president named Rody Duterte who threatened to rescind the concession.

But that’s now water under the bridge and here they are on their way to the stock market.

Says DMCI Holdings chairman Sid Consunji, as quoted by our capital markets reporter Richmond Mercurio in his Notes on the Beat titled “Sid Consunji’s quest to transform more firms into gold:”

“I had figured out that, like Maynilad for instance, when we acquired it, it was negative equity. And then (we thought), what an opportunity. They have the access to Ipo Dam, they have access to 5,000 kilometers of pipeline and they have access to La Mesa Dam. The only thing that you have to do is make sure that it’s managed properly. So of a small equity, but you can manage a very big amount of assets, (it’s) dramatic.”

“If the initial public offering (IPO) pushes through, we we’re just computing a few days ago, a market value of P120 billion. It’s P120 billion from negative equity 19 years ago,” Consunji also said at the recent meeting of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines.

Considering its challenging journey, Maynilad, for sure, is already quite a success story, whether or not its market value goes up to P120 billion, a P100 billion or just about.

Success

We don’t know what will happen on the listing date but early indications are positive. 

InsiderPH’s Miguel Camus called it a breakout success, especially given the prevailing turbulent market conditions.

The offer is already nearly two times subscribed at the institutional level, which accounts for the largest portion of the offer, according to Miguel’s report.

“At that price, and assuming the full take-up of the offer, Maynilad is valued at about P113 billion, larger than tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.’s Manila Water Co. Inc., which is worth P90.4 billion.”

Maynilad will ring the bell on Nov. 7. 

I share the optimism it will be a success, based on the buzz we’re hearing. 

The question perhaps in the mind of Ramon Monzon, the tireless PSE president and CEO, is whether or not it would be enough to perk up the market. 

That, we’ll have to wait and see. 

Politics and pension

It’s quite a turbulent time at the state-owned pension fund now, at least based on the issues we’re hearing against Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president and general manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso.

There was also the prior suspension of Veloso by the Office of the Ombudsman, based on alleged questionable transactions.

I worry for GSIS beneficiaries. I hope the politics hounding the agency will be resolved soon. I hope the issues don’t affect the hard-earned pension of state workers. 

I also hope that Veloso, or whoever will eventually succeed him, will ensure the safety of the pension fund of government workers.

As we know by now, some members of the GSIS Board of Trustees have since left. They have been calling for the resignation of Veloso.

New appointments were announced – Gilbert Tan Sadsad, the president of the Philippine Public School Teachers Association. Also appointed were Enrico Gregorio Molina Trinidad and Cenon Cruz Audencial Jr., representing the banking, finance and insurance sectors.

Prior to this, several members of the GSIS board called for the resignation of Veloso, citing “poor investment decisions” that allegedly resulted in an P8.8-billion loss.

The call for immediate resignation was signed by Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez, Emmanuel de Leon Samson, Rita Riddle and Evelina Escudero. It was also signed by former GSIS board members such as Jocelyn Cabreza and Alan Luga. 

They said that Veloso’s actions and endorsement of risky transactions compelled them to act, asserting that such initiatives were not only questionable but also constituted a direct violation of the GSIS’s fiduciary duties.

The group cited several transactions involving companies such as Monde Nissin Corp., Nickel Asia Corp., Bloomberry Resorts Corp., DigiPlus Interactive Corp., Alternergy Holdings Corp. and Figaro Culinary Group Inc., among others.

However, Veloso clarified that all GSIS investments were made with the collective approval of both the board and management.

He also noted that GSIS’s total assets have risen to P1.92 trillion, with a net income of P100.02 billion as of August 2025.

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