West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc. has started its initial public ofering (IPO) on Thursday after the company secured a permit to sell from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The offer period will run through October 29.
Maynilad’s IPO would be the country’s second largest at P34 billion in terms of proceeds, and only the second maiden offering for the year.
Maynilad, whose offer price is P15 per share, is expected to list its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on November 7,under the trading symbol MYNLD.
BPI Capital Corp. serves as the domestic lead Underwriter for the IPO, while The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte. and UBS AG, Singapore Branch act as the international underwriters.
The International Finance Corp. and Asian Development Bank are the lead cornerstone investors of the IPO. The domestic and international cornerstone investors that have confirmed their participation include BDO Capital, BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company-Trust Banking Group, Security Bank Corporation -Trust and Asset Management Group.
International cornerstone investors, meanwhile, include abrdn Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., The United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, Maven Investment Partners Ltd-Hong Kong Branch, Maybank Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd., Robeco Switzerland Ltd. and QRT Master Fund SPC-Torus Fund SP.
Maynilad hopes to sell 1.66 billion common shares to the public, and to 24.9 million primary shares to First Pacific Co. Ltd., with an overallotment option of up to 249.04 million primary common shares and subject to the exercise of an upsize option of up to 354.7 million secondary common shares to be offered by shareholder, Maynilad Water Holdings Co. Inc. (MHWCI).
Proceeds from the offer will be used to fund Maynilad’s capital expenditures requirements and for general corporate purposes. Maynilad will not receive any proceeds from the sale of MWHCI’s shares in the event that the upsize option is exercised.