3 weeks ago
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Richmond Mercurio - The Philippine Star
February 28, 2025 | 12:00am
In a chance interview, Maynilad president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez told The STAR that the company is ready to go public this year. “We will be proceeding with it (the IPO) this third quarter; that’s all I can say,” he said.
Businessworld / File
MANILA, Philippines — Maynilad Water Services Inc. is pushing through with its initial public offering (IPO) by the third quarter.
In a chance interview, Maynilad president and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez told The STAR that the company is ready to go public this year. “We will be proceeding with it (the IPO) this third quarter; that’s all I can say,” he said.
Maynilad’s board of directors approved in November last year the conduct of the IPO of the corporation’s common shares, subject to the registration requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the listing requirements of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
Under Maynilad’s legislative franchise, the company must become a publicly listed firm on or before January 2027 and offer at least 30 percent of its outstanding capital stocks five years from the grant of the franchise.
In an interview last year, Fernandez said that the company wants to get the IPO done as early as possible. “You never know. It’s better to be ready. And we also need funds,” he said.
Maynilad has appointed HSBC, Morgan Stanley and UBS as its financial advisors.
Maynilad is the concessionaire of the government in providing water services in the West Zone of Metro Manila.
The company is jointly owned by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), DMCI Holdings of the Consunji family and Marubeni Corp. of Japan.
MPIC owns about 53 percent of the water utility firm, while DMCI and Marubeni hold 25 percent and 20 percent stake, respectively.
The ASEAN Exchanges, a collaboration among the exchanges in Southeast Asian countries, sees a strong pipeline of new listings in the Philippines this year, with companies looking to tap the capital markets for funding.
It expects new listings in sectors such as real estate, technology and energy for the Philippines for 2025.
“Overall, despite global challenges, the Philippine capital market is set to experience steady expansion with increased listings, strong bond issuance and growing investor participation,” the ASEAN Exchanges said.
The PSE is looking at six IPOs for 2025, double from last year’s three.
The IPO of Top Line Business Development Corp., which was supposed to be the fourth and last IPO for 2024, is slated to be the first this year, with the company planning to list in the second quarter.
