Mynt—operator of the Philippines’ most popular e-wallet GCash and backed by the billionaire Zobel de Ayala family—may defer its IPO should the intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China escalate and continue to roil markets.
The GCash operator is owned 36% by Globe Telecom, a joint venture between Singapore Telecom and Ayala Corp, which is owned by billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family. Mynt’s other investors include the Philippine conglomerate’s AC Ventures, China’s Ant Financial and Japan’s MUFG Bank.
Globe Telecom and Mynt are working to make the fintech “push-button ready” to hold an IPO once market conditions improve, Carl Cruz, the newly appointed CEO of Philippine mobile carrier.
“All the requirements are being prepared so that when the right time comes the IPO is going to happen,” Cruz told Forbes Asia on the sidelines of his maiden media briefing as Globe Telecom CEO. “It has to be the best possible condition for the IPO to happen. If market conditions deteriorate then we will have to take a position.”
Mynt’s IPO, which is anticipated by some analysts to raise between $1 billion and $1.5 billion later this year, will be the biggest maiden share sale in the Philippines since the 2021 listing of Monde Nissin, which raised $1 billion.
GCash has been contributing positively to Global Telecom with the phone company’s share of Mynt’s earnings in 2024 reaching 3.8 billion pesos, up from 2.4 billion pesos in 2023 and 808.3 million pesos in 2022. Globe Telecom reported 21.5 billion pesos in core net income last year.
Mynt in August received $800 million from AC Ventures and MUFG Bank, valuing the fintech company at $5 billion, making it the most valuable Philippine unicorn.
GCash is used by eight out of 10 Filipinos, according to Globe. The platform has over six million merchants with services ranging from payments, lending, insurance and investments.
Ayala Corp. is the country’s oldest conglomerate that was started by the grandfather of Jaime Zobel de Ayala, the family patriarch, in 1834 as a distillery. Today, the Manila-listed company has expanded into banking, energy, utilities and real estate. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, the family is among the richest in the Philippines.
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