CORPORATE NEWS SEC greenlights Monde Nissin’s initial public offering

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has “considered favorably” the initial public offering (IPO) of food manufacturer Monde Nissin Corp, the corporate regulator said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The commission en banc resolved to render effective the registration statement of Monde Nissin covering 17,968,611,496 common shares to be listed and traded on the Main Board of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), subject to the company’s compliance with certain remaining requirements,” the SEC said.

The company’s public offering is set to run from May 17 to 21, while its listing on the local bourse is slated for the end of May.

Monde Nissin’s registration statement covers 3.6 billion common shares with a maximum price of P17.50 per share. The company may raise as much as P63 billion in total gross proceeds.

The offer comes with an overallotment option of up to 540 million existing common shares, which can bump total gross proceeds up to P72.45 billion if exercised.

The commission said Monde Nissin is expecting the primary offer to net about P60.61 billion.

Monde Nissin will be using around P26.52 billion of the proceeds to fund its capital expenditure. Meanwhile, some P17.31 billion will be allotted for the redemption of a convertible note and P16.78 billion will be used to fund the repayment of loans.

UBS AG Singapore Branch, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd., and JPMorgan Securities PLC have been tapped to serve as global coordinators. Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd. is assigned as joint international bookrunner, with co-bookrunners Jefferies Singapore Ltd. and Macquarie Capital Securities (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Selected local lead underwriters are BDO Capital & Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., and First Metro Investment Corp., while China Bank Capital Corp., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., and SB Capital Investment Corp. are assigned as domestic co-lead underwriters.

Monde Nissin is known for manufacturing Lucky Me! instant noodles, SkyFlakes, Fita, Mama Sita’s, Dutch Mill yogurt milk, and other Nissin biscuits. It also owns Quorn Foods, which makes alternative meat products. —