Monde Nissin to do IPO this year

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino snack food giant Monde Nissin is considering finally pushing through with its planned initial public offering (IPO) this year after putting this on hold since 2015, industry sources said.

The company is already in talks with banks to handle the transaction, which is targeted to happen this year, sources said.

Sun Life chief investments officer Michael Enrique said the market was already expecting Monde Nissin to list, along with two other companies, Wilcon Depot and The Big Chill.

Wilcon Depot, a home and retail construction business owned by businessman William Belo, plans to raise P7.9 billion in the first quarter of the year while

Big Chill, a subsidiary of publicly listed Agrinurture, is also looking to debut on the local bourse to raise about P500 million to P600 million.

Monde Nissin had earlier planned to raise an estimated $300 million to $500 million from the maiden offering of shares  to boost its operations and achieve its goal of becoming a significant food and beverage company in the Asia-Pacific region.

It was in talks with banks as early as 2015 but later on decided to put the IPO on hold because of market volatility and also because they had to review their financials.

The company is owned by Betty Ang, hailed by Forbes as the 26th richest person in the Philippines in 2016, with a net worth of $800 million.  The company has been among the Top 1000 companies in the Philippines since 2000.

“Monde Nissin was the first firm in the country to sell pouches of dry noodles to make instant soup, and currently boasts of more than a 60 percent share in the market and more than 30 percent of the biscuit sector,” Forbes said.

The company has been on a global expansion mode for the past two years.

In 2015, Monde Nissin acquired Menora Foods, a family-owned Australian food company, its third acquisition in Australia after the Black Swan and Nudie food brands. It also acquired UK-based Quorn for $831 million in the same year.

Last year, Monde Nissin entered into a joint venture with Nippon Indosari, Indonesia’s largest bread products producer to create Sarimonde Foods Corp.

The newly formed Sarimonde made its first major move in the packaged bread market when it recently acquired Walter Bread, a Filipino brand known for its healthy and innovative bread products. Its portfolio includes Walter Sugar-Free Bread and Walter Double Fiber Wheat Bread, both first of their kind in the market.

The company also launched a partnership with Japanese retailer Uniqlo to launch shirts for men and women that carry Monde Nissin brands such as Lucky Me!, the Philippines’ leading instant noodles brand, and Bingo Cookie Sandwich, a favorite snack among teens,

Originally a biscuit manufacturer, the company started as Monde Denmark Nissin Biscuit Corp. in 1980.