Maynilad sets IPO investor briefing for Oct. 23

Manila, Philippines - Maynilad Water Services, Inc., the country’s largest private water concessionaire, has set for Thursday next week, Oct. 23, an investor briefing for its planned initial public offering (IPO), it told the stock exchange on Friday.

The investor briefing begins the one-week offer period for its IPO that runs from Oct. 23 to 29, with a target listing date of Nov. 7.

The water concessionaire, which serves the west zone of Metro Manila and parts of Cavite province, is jointly owned by businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Isidro Consunji-led DMCI Holdings, Inc., and Marubeni Corp. of Japan.

Up for public float are 2.29 billion common shares at an offer price of up to P20 each.

But Reuters last week reported that cornerstone investors will bid for more than half of the shares for P15 apiece, or a combined $438 million (25.3 billion).

Reuters, citing sources, said multilaterals International Finance Corp. (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will participate as a cornerstone investor in the offer.

Other participants include abrdn Malaysia and Maybank Asset Management, and smaller institutional investors.

The company plans to use proceeds from the sale of primary shares to fund capital expenditures for water and wastewater projects and for general corporate purposes, according to its preliminary prospectus.

NewsWatch Plus business news anchor Lois Calderon contributed to this story. – with Reuters