Early GCash backers to cash in biggest chunk of IPO proceeds

MANILA, Philippines —  Private funders who made an early gamble on GCash are expected to grab the biggest chunk of the P92.3-billion proceeds the e-wallet would raise from its initial public offering.

GCash parent Mynt Inc. will be receiving more than P16 billion in fresh capital from its IPO, with the bulk of proceeds at P76.26 billion going to long-time backers and executives.

Based on Mynt’s revised preliminary prospectus, private funder ASP Philippines LP is selling up to P27.04 billion in the IPO, bringing down its stake to 1.82 percent.

ASP Philippines, owned by Bow Wave Capital Management, invested $175 million on GCash in 2021 to support expansion at the height of the cashless shift. At the time, GCash was expanding rapidly, as the pandemic forced a transition to digital payments.

Advanced New Technologies (Singapore) Holding Pte. Ltd. is selling as much as P25.18 billion in the IPO to slash its share to 2.3 percent. The company is backed by the Ant Group, a long-time investor of GCash.

Lion Fintech Investments Pte. Ltd. is cashing in about P12.18 billion, as the financier of scalable technologies owned by Warburg Pincus LLC is cutting its position to 0.82 percent.

Meanwhile, GCash’s largest investors Globe Capital Venture Holdings Inc. and Ant International Technologies (Singapore) Holding Pte. Ltd. are skipping the sale, keeping their respective stakes of 33.84 percent and 21.44 percent.

Some of Mynt’s executives may also come out of the IPO richer by tens, if not hundreds, of millions of pesos.

Mynt president and CEO Martha Sazon is selling P440.23 million that would diminish her share to 0.26 percent. Fuse Financing Inc. president and CEO Tony Isidro is staring at P58.83 million, while GCash chief people officer Robert Conrad Gonzales is eyeing P42.08 million.

Mynt will be offering 8.03 billion primary and secondary common shares, with an overallotment option of up to 1.2 billion secondary common shares. Mynt’s revised prospectus indicated that it is bent on sticking to selling the shares at P10 a piece.

If successful, Mynt’s P92.3-billion IPO will become the largest in Philippine history, showing the strength of an e-wallet that manages the digital finance of 41.5 million Filipinos monthly.

The IPO is slated on Oct. 6 to 12, and Mynt is scheduled to list on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Oct. 20.