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Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito FernandezMaynilad Water Services Inc. has firmed up plans for its initial public offering, targeting to raise up to ₱49.15 billion around the third quarter of this year, as further delays could limit its options.
In a disclosure, the firm said its board of directors has approved the offering of up to 1.81 billion common shares with an Overallotment Option of up to 266.31 million common shares and subject to the exercise of an Upsize Option of up to 379.29 million common shares at an offer price of up to ₱20.00 per share.
It noted that these are just indicative terms and the IPO is still subject to the registration requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the listing requirements of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
The Maynilad Board has delegated to management to set the terms and conditions of the offer that may be mutually agreed upon with its offering underwriters.
Also approved by the board is an annual dividend payout equivalent to at least
50 percent of the prior year’s net income after tax although the board may adjust the dividend payout ratio depending on the results of operations and future projects and plans of the Corporation and other considerations.
Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez said in an interview that they may make a firmer pronouncement on the listing plans in the next six months—during the second and third quarters of 2025.
“The franchise of Maynilad calls for it offering up to 30 percent to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on or before January 2027. That said, the company is preparing so that it can be push-button within this year depending on different factors: macro, economic, and geopolitical,” Fernandez said.
He noted that, “The earlier, the better. Because if you understand our predicament, if we push it to next year, we might be running out of options. So it's a sweet spot really this year.”
Fernandez explained that the “sweet spot” means that the company not being being forced to do the IPO as the deadline gets near, “Because if it’s next year, it’s already tight and we may be forced to sell (under not-so-ideal terms and conditions).”
Maynilad has already tapped Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC), Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Bank of the Philippine Islands to help prepare the company for the IPO.
Meanwhile, the firm commits to continue delivering an uninterrupted water supply to its concession area this summer for the second year in a row after the successful implementation of mitigating activities in the past three years.
“The mitigating actions that we have started since three years ago is already in place and ensuring that there will be no unplanned service interruption. Last year, in the midst of El Nino, we didn't have any unplanned interruptions,” he said.
“We have built a 150 million liters per day Poblacion plant in Muntinlupa, which was inaugurated by the president together with our chairman. Number two, we have deep wells also on standby that have been reactivated. Number three we have also built modular treatment plants,” Fernandez added.
Fernandez said the company’s non-revenue water reduction efforts “have (also) been very successful.”
