MANILA — The long wait is almost over. GCash is preparing for what could become the biggest initial public offering the Philippines has ever seen, after regulators cleared a share sale worth as much as ₱92.32 billion.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the registration statement of Mynt Inc., the company behind GCash, bringing one of the country’s most valuable financial-technology businesses within weeks of a planned Philippine Stock Exchange debut.
Under the latest timetable, shares are expected to be offered from October 6 to October 12, with Mynt targeting a October 20 listing on the PSE Main Board under the ticker “GCASH.”
At the maximum indicative price of ₱10 per share, and assuming the full overallotment option is exercised, the offering could reach ₱92.32 billion.
That would make Philippine stock-market history.
But buried inside the record-breaking headline is a detail investors should understand:
Most of that ₱92.3 billion will not become fresh money for GCash.
A substantial portion will instead go to existing shareholders selling part of their stakes.
And that makes the structure of the IPO almost as interesting as its size.
SEC Clears the Way for an October 20 Debut
The SEC Commission En Banc resolved on September 3 to render effective Mynt’s registration statement covering up to 66.9 billion common shares, subject to completion of remaining regulatory requirements.
The planned firm offer consists of:
- up to 1.61 billion newly issued primary shares
- up to 6.42 billion existing secondary shares
- plus an overallotment option of as many as 1.20 billion additional secondary shares
The shares are currently indicated at a maximum price of ₱10 each, although the ultimate IPO pricing process remains critical to determining the amount actually raised.
If everything is sold at the maximum price, Mynt is expected to have an initial market capitalization of approximately ₱668.96 billion.
That would instantly place the GCash parent among the largest publicly traded companies in the Philippines.
Why ₱92.3 Billion Is Slightly Misleading
The IPO headline suggests GCash itself is about to receive more than ₱92 billion.
It isn’t.
The SEC estimates that Mynt could receive approximately ₱14.95 billion in net proceeds from the primary portion of the transaction. Those funds are intended for expansion of digital financial services, product development and general corporate purposes.
The much larger secondary portion involves existing shareholders selling shares they already own.
The Philippine Star, citing Mynt’s revised preliminary prospectus, reported that roughly ₱76.26 billion of the potential proceeds could go to existing investors and executives, assuming the shares are sold at their indicated price.
That distinction is essential.
Primary shares raise fresh capital for the company.
Secondary shares allow existing owners to cash out or reduce their holdings.
Both count toward the headline size of an IPO, but they serve very different purposes.
Some Early GCash Investors Are Cashing In
One of the biggest sellers is ASP Philippines LP, controlled by Bow Wave Capital Management.
The fund could sell roughly ₱27.04 billion worth of shares, according to The Philippine Star. Bow Wave invested $175 million in GCash in 2021, when digital payments were accelerating during the pandemic.
Advanced New Technologies (Singapore) Holding, associated with Ant Group, could sell as much as ₱25.18 billion, while Warburg Pincus-linked Lion Fintech Investments could sell roughly ₱12.18 billion.
Some Mynt executives are also selling portions of their holdings.
CEO Martha Sazon, for example, could sell shares worth roughly ₱440 million at the indicative offer price.
But two major strategic investors are reportedly staying put.
Globe-controlled Globe Capital Venture Holdings is expected to retain roughly 33.84%, while Ant International Technologies Singapore is expected to maintain around 21.44%, according to the revised prospectus details reported by The Philippine Star.
That sends an interesting signal.
Some financial investors are monetizing years of gains.
Two of the largest strategic shareholders are not heading for the exit.
GCash Is the First Company to Use a New SEC Rule
The IPO is also making regulatory history.
Mynt will be the first issuer allowed to use the SEC’s newly relaxed minimum public-float requirement for exceptionally large companies.
Ordinarily, the relevant initial public ownership requirement is 15%.
The SEC approved Mynt’s request for only 12%, because the company’s projected ₱668.96-billion market capitalization exceeds the ₱200-billion threshold established under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 11, Series of 2026.
That change matters because forcing a company as large as Mynt to sell an additional 3% of itself would require the market to absorb billions of pesos more stock.
The relaxed requirement effectively allows a giant issuer to enter the market without overwhelming domestic investor liquidity.
If the overallotment option is fully exercised, public ownership could rise beyond the initial 12% level. Earlier IPO filings indicated a possible public float of approximately 13.8% under the maximum offering structure.
It Would Smash the Philippines’ Existing IPO Record
For perspective, the current Philippine IPO record belongs to Monde Nissin, which raised approximately ₱48.6 billion in 2021.
Mynt’s maximum ₱92.32-billion transaction would be nearly twice that size.
That alone makes the offering significant for the PSE.
The Philippine equity market has struggled for years to attract large new listings, and some companies have chosen foreign markets or delayed public offerings altogether.
PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon said in August that projected capital raising for the full year could reach about ₱203.13 billion, significantly above the exchange’s initial ₱170-billion target, with Mynt’s planned IPO accounting for an enormous share of that pipeline.
So the GCash listing is not merely another IPO.
It could materially change the Philippine exchange’s entire capital-raising statistics for 2026.
GCash Is Entering the Market as a Highly Profitable Company
Unlike many technology companies that go public while still burning cash, Mynt arrives with substantial earnings.
For 2025, the company reported approximately:
₱79.8 billion in revenue
₱17.2 billion in net income
₱17 trillion in payment transaction value
and 39.1 million monthly active users.
That user base has continued expanding.
By August, reporting based on the revised prospectus put GCash monthly active users at roughly 41.5 million.
Mynt also continued growing during 2026.
Globe’s share of Mynt earnings reached about ₱3.7 billion during the first half, while Mynt generated a quarterly-high ₱22.4 billion in revenue during the second quarter, according to Globe-related financial reporting.
Those figures help explain why investors have spent years waiting for the company to go public.
The Valuation Is Where the Debate Gets Interesting
At ₱10 per share and approximately 66.9 billion shares outstanding after the offering, Mynt would be valued at around ₱669 billion, or roughly $11 billion depending on exchange rates.
That is dramatically higher than the approximately ₱286.4-billion valuation implied when Ayala acquired an additional 8% stake in Mynt in 2024 for approximately ₱22.4 billion.
The comparison is not perfect.
GCash has grown significantly since then, and IPO valuations incorporate different market assumptions.
But the jump demonstrates what investors are being asked to believe:
that GCash is no longer merely an electronic-wallet operator.
It must be valued as an increasingly broad digital financial-services platform capable of generating sustained growth in payments, lending, savings, investments, insurance and other services.
And analysts have already warned that pricing could determine whether the IPO becomes a success.
Unicapital Securities analyst Peter Garnace told The Philippine Star that investors are likely to closely examine both the final price and how Mynt intends to use fresh proceeds.
Luis Limlingan of Regina Capital also noted that a valuation around ₱670 billion puts Mynt closer to the multiples attached to regional technology firms, at a time when some major Philippine banks trade at substantially lower valuation multiples.
That may become the biggest question between now and October.
Investors know GCash.
Do they believe GCash is worth almost ₱670 billion?
GCash Has Come a Long Way From Text-Message Payments
GCash’s transformation is particularly striking because the platform did not begin as a sophisticated financial superapp.
It was launched by Globe in 2004, initially using text-message technology for mobile payments.
Today its ecosystem extends into digital lending, savings, investments, insurance, merchant payments, money transfers and other financial services.
Mynt’s current shareholder network also reads like a map of global finance.
Its strategic backers include Globe, Ayala interests, Ant-linked entities, Japan’s MUFG and Mitsubishi-related interests, while financial investors have included Bow Wave and Warburg Pincus-linked vehicles.
An IPO would add another group:
ordinary public-market investors.
That could turn millions of Filipinos who have spent years using GCash into potential shareholders of the company behind the app.
But SEC Approval Is Not the Finish Line
This is perhaps the most important wording distinction for publication.
The SEC has approved the registration statement and cleared the offering to proceed subject to outstanding requirements.
That does not mean the IPO has already raised ₱92.32 billion.
Nor does it guarantee that every share will be sold at ₱10.
Market conditions can move.
Bookbuilding could influence pricing.
Investor demand may prove stronger or weaker than expected.
And the size of the overallotment option depends on demand.
Therefore, the safest language is:
“GCash parent Mynt receives SEC clearance for an IPO of up to ₱92.32 billion.”
Not:
“GCash raises ₱92.32 billion.”
That won’t be known until the offering is completed.
October 20 Could Be a Defining Day for the Philippine Stock Market
For GCash, going public opens a new chapter.
For early investors, it creates a way to monetize part of a remarkable increase in the company’s value.
For Globe and Ayala shareholders, it could finally establish a transparent public-market price for an asset that has become an increasingly important contributor to earnings.
And for the Philippine Stock Exchange, a successful deal could demonstrate that Manila can still absorb a technology IPO at a scale rarely attempted in the local market.
But the most important number may not ultimately be ₱92.32 billion.
It may be the final price investors are willing to pay.
Because after years of hype surrounding a GCash listing, the market is about to answer a far more difficult question:
How much is the Philippines’ dominant finance app actually worth when real investors have to put real money behind the valuation?
The SEC has opened the door.
October will show whether investors rush through it.
WWC ONE MEDIA M.J.E
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