GCash owner Mynt starts trading after record Philippine IPO
Mynt, the company behind the GCash e-wallet, began trading on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Its 60.9 billion peso offering at 6.60 pesos a share is the largest IPO in the country's history. The stock opened slightly above that price in its first trades.
Mynt Inc., the financial technology company behind the GCash mobile wallet, made its debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday after the largest initial public offering in the market's history, BusinessWorld and GMA News reported.
The company raised 60.9 billion pesos, selling about 8.03 billion shares at 6.60 pesos apiece, BusinessWorld reported. That total includes an overallotment option of about 1.2 billion extra shares on top of a base deal worth about 53 billion pesos. The offering topped Monde Nissin's 55.89 billion peso IPO in 2021, the previous record.
The shares edged higher at the open. BusinessWorld reported an opening price of 6.63 pesos, while GMA News reported 6.64 pesos. Either way, the stock started trading just above its offer price.
"This is the largest initial public offering in the history of the Philippine Stock Exchange," said PSE President Ramon Monzon, GMA News reported. "It is a record, and more importantly, it is a statement of confidence in Mynt, in the Philippine economy, and in the strength of our capital market." Monzon said Mynt debuted with a market value of 441.5 billion pesos, or about $7 billion, making it the seventh-largest domestic company on the exchange.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led the bell-ringing ceremony, BusinessWorld reported. The shares trade under the ticker GCASH.
Most of the shares sold were existing shares from current owners, so much of the money goes to those sellers rather than the company, BusinessWorld reported. Of the 8.03 billion shares, about 1.61 billion were new. Mynt plans to put 60% of the net proceeds from the new shares into expanding its lending technology business, with the rest going to product development and general corporate purposes.
Cornerstone investors included the International Finance Corp., HSBC Global Asset Management and funds managed by BlackRock subsidiaries, along with several Philippine banks and trust firms, BusinessWorld reported.
What we know: Mynt's 60.9 billion peso IPO is the largest in Philippine stock market history.
What we don't: How the shares will trade after the debut as the wider Asian market sells off.
Where outlets agree BusinessWorld and GMA News both report that Mynt's IPO is the largest in Philippine Stock Exchange history and that its shares opened just above the 6.60 peso offer price.
Where they differ The cited reports agree on the key facts so far.