UK’s Mobilist named cornerstone investor in Maynilad IPO

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. has identified the United Kingdom’s Mobilist program as one of the cornerstone investors in its planned initial public offering (IPO), according to its preliminary prospectus dated Oct. 3.

Mobilist, a flagship program of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), aims to mobilize institutional capital toward sustainable investments in emerging and frontier markets.

The West Zone water concessionaire said Mobilist is among the cornerstone investors that have entered or are expected to enter into separate agreements to purchase offer shares at the final offer price.

Other cornerstone investors identified are the International Finance Corp. (IFC) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which are considering investments of $100 million and $145 million, respectively.

The cornerstone investment agreements with IFC, ADB, and Mobilist are subject to final execution and to the final determination of the offer price. These agreements require that the final offer price does not exceed P15 per share.

Maynilad’s IPO will cover up to 1.66 billion common shares, including 24.9 million primary shares and 249.05 million overallotment option shares, priced at up to P20 apiece.

The offering also includes an upsize option of up to 354.70 million secondary common shares.

Aside from Mobilist, other institutional investors expressing interest include Robeco Switzerland Ltd., which is offering up to $20 million, as well as abrdn Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Maven Investment Partners Ltd. – Hong Kong Branch, Maybank Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd., and QRT Master Fund – Torus Fund SP.

Maynilad has rescheduled its IPO to no later than Nov. 7 to allow cornerstone investors more time to complete their evaluation.

The offer period is set from Oct. 23 to 29, with the listing on the Philippine Stock Exchange targeted for Nov. 7.

The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of primary shares for capital expenditures and general corporate purposes.

BPI Capital Corp. serves as the domestic lead underwriter, while The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte., and UBS AG, Singapore Branch act as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners.

Maynilad provides water and wastewater services to parts of Manila, Quezon City, and Makati, as well as Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas, and Malabon. It also serves the cities of Cavite, Bacoor, and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta, and Rosario in Cavite province.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which holds a majority stake in Maynilad, is one of three Philippine units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being Philex Mining Corp. and PLDT Inc.

Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has an interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. — A.L. Balinbin and S. Talavera