Unicapital Securities Inc. Research Analyst Peter Louise D. Garnace said "We think the stock split is being done in preparation for the upcoming IPO of GCash--which is common practice for firms planning to list publicly."
Manila Bulletin
Business
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GCash gears up for public offering with stock split to enhance accessibility
Business
The Stock Market
GCash gears up for public offering with stock split to enhance accessibility
GCash gears up for public offering with stock split to enhance accessibility
Published Jun 3, 2025 09:35 am
Ayala Corporation reported that Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt, the owner of GCash) is undergoing a stock split that will result in a lower par value per share and increase its market appeal when it launches its initial public offering.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Ayala stated that the Board of Directors and shareholders of Mynt have approved the proposed stock split at a special board meeting and annual stockholders’ meeting.
The stock split will reduce the par value of Mynt’s common shares from ₱1.00 to ₱0.03 per share, thereby increasing the number of authorized common shares from 2.15 billion to 71.66 billion.
Mynt’s authorized capital stock will remain at ₱2.15 billion. Mynt has yet to file its registration statement for its planned IPO.
He added that, "In our view, the substantial increase in the number of shares at a lower par value will provice GCash's operator Mynt the flexibility to issue shares at a more affordable and attractive price to investors. This will make the IPO more accessible to a broader range of investors."
Last March, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a proposal made by the PSE to exempt giant initial public offerings such as that of GCash from the 20 percent minimum public float requirement.
“We have been able to get an approval from the SEC where companies that want to offer ₱5 billion pesos or more, can actually offer less than 20 percent,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon.
He added that, under the exemption, “They can offer 15 percent with a commitment that they will do a follow-on offering or a private placement in the next two or three years to comply in the 20 percent requirement.”
Mynt has been asking for an exemption from the rule, considering that the stock market is currently having liquidity problems and may not be able to absorb its IPO if they are required to offer 20 percent of its outstanding shares.
The company said earlier that it will seek a valuation of $8 billion when it goes public, possibly by year-end. This would value a 20 percent IPO at $1.6 billion.
While the fintech is gearing up for an IPO, the company said market conditions need to be right, and they're not in a hurry to do an IPO. Additionally, it believes that the current minimum float of 20 percent is too high and that a float of 10 percent to 15 percent would be ideal.
This would value the IPO at $800 million to $1.2 billion--just below the $1.3 billion IPO of Monde Nissin Corporation, which is historically the biggest IPO in the Philippine stock market. However, in peso terms, this will be bigger than the ₱48.6 billion raised by Monde Nissin.
“Even at the low point of this range, an $800 million offering could be the country's biggest ever,” noted Abacus Securities Corporation.
It added that, “In our view, the listing is likely to push through even if conditions are not ideal. Investors are hungry for quality IPOs... Also, waiting too long would risk turning Mynt's investment thesis stale... Bottom line, Mynt will have to list soon if management wants to extract the best value.