Defying market sentiments

It’s all systems go for the initial public offering (IPO) of Maynilel Water Services Inc., tagged to be the biggest stock offering in the last four years.

- FILC. SIONIL

Amid the continuing political drama surrounding the floodgate mess, there’s no stopping Maynilad’s IPO—especially with institutional investors such as International Finance Corp. (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank Group (WBG), and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) backing its debut on the bourse.

This corner of the Business Corridor first broke the buzz that institutional investors were drawn to the Maynilad offering. Already, the combined purchases of IFC and the ADB account for over 40 percent of the IPO—at $100 million and $145 million, respectively, equivalent to about P5.87 billion and P8.5 billion at the current exchange rate of 258.68, for a total of 214.37 billion.

By the time you’re reading this, industrialist Manuel “MVP” V. Pangilinan and other Maynilad top executives are at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) headquarters in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) for the ringing of the bell that signals the company’s listing.