PSE eyes at least 5 IPOs by next year

Merged SMC-MPIC tollway units a prospect

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is looking at possibly at least five initial public offerings (IPO) taking place by next year, as two IPOs are potentially underway this year, including what could be the country’s biggest, courtesy of Mynt Inc., the parent firm of GCash.

“What do I look forward to in 2027? I keep hearing a possible – and I’m hearing this from the principals, this is not rumor – that there are ongoing talks to merge the San Miguel and the Metro Pacific tollways,” PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon said.

“And when that happens, I think they will be going to the market to raise capital. I don’t know how much. But that has been shared with me by one of the principals of that company,” Monzon said.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and San Miguel Corp. are nearing completion of their talks, with the merger targeted to be signed by the third quarter. The joint venture is seen possibly listing in the PSE.

Monzon said four companies from its listing engagement and assistance program (LEAP) are likewise expected to brave the market and pursue their IPO dreams by 2027.

The PSE LEAP, a handholding program of the exchange, offers a one-stop shop service to potential listing applicants by providing guidance to clients via one-on-one advisory sessions, access to online pre-listing assessment tools and assistance in connecting potential clients to seasoned IPO advisors.

“We have four there that we have been meeting with regularly, and I think they’re ready and prepared to do an IPO for next year. So these are four we are looking at that I know of as of now. Other than that, my crystal ball does not show anything else,” Monzon said.

The PSE had earlier hoped to see four IPOs in 2026, up from the two listings in 2025.

“To date, we have two applications for an IPO for common stocks, which is the VITRO REIT and Mynt or the GCash IPO,” Monzon said.

Mynt has submitted its registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission and its application for listing on the main board of the PSE for its proposed IPO which is targeted in the fourth quarter of the year.

At an offer price of up to P10 per share, the proposed offering is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to P92.3 billion assuming full exercise of the overallotment option.

PLDT, for its part, has submitted the application to list VITRO Inc. at the PSE, seeking to raise up to P24.2 billion from turning the unit into a real estate investment trust.

Monzon said he personally believes that it would be good for the market if the two upcoming IPOs are spaced appropriately.

“I’m not an expert on this. But, intuitively, I would think that if one of the IPO companies gets listed first before the offering for the other company starts, I think it would be much better because investors would be able to raise their capital from the listing of the first company and use that also for the investment in the second company, rather having an offering that will almost coincide at the same time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Monzon said he is also optimistic about a possible Maya IPO in the future.

“I bumped into MVP (Manuel V. Pangilinan) in one event and he said, I want to list Maya in the Philippines. I want to do a dual listing. What is clear in my mind is that as far as the local owners are concerned, they are determined to list Maya also in the Philippine market,” he said.

Monzon is hoping that the GCash IPO, as well as a potential listing of Maya, would start the momentum for listing of tech companies in the PSE.

“More than the GCash volume or the amount of the IPO, it’s the first semblance of a tech company listing in the PSE. Most of our listed companies are conglomerates, banks. But this is the first. With Maya, that would be the second,” he said.

Aside from the IPOs, Monzon said the PSE is also looking at a robust pipeline of preferred share offerings from a number of companies, making him confident on hitting and even exceeding the exchange’s P170-billion capital raising target for the year.

“We have as well a San Miguel follow-on offering of about P30 billion in preferred shares. We expect a listing of preferred shares only of about P9 billion. That’s by a company whose common stock is not yet listed. And we have another private placement of preferred shares of about P4 billion,” Monzon said.

“In short, our projected capital raising for 2026, as of this date, based on the applications that we have received is about P204 billion. So we exceeded our optimistic target of P170 billion that we gave at the beginning of the year. And that’s a very good sign for the exchange,” he said.