Philippine Instant-Noodle Maker Monde Nissin Aims for $1.3 Billion IPO

(Nikkei Asia) — Philippine instant noodle producer Monde Nissin plans to raise up to 63 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) in what could be the country’s largest initial public offering.

The company behind the popular Lucky Me! instant noodle and SkyFlakes biscuit brands is looking to sell up to 3.6 million shares at up to 17.50 pesos apiece, with an option to sell up to 540 million more shares, according to a prospectus filed with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The filing comes as the Philippine Stock Exchange is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2020, a year that saw only three IPOs and weak trading amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Monde Nissin — which is not affiliated with Japan’s Nissin Foods — has yet to announce a timetable for the public offering.

The company plans to use the fresh capital from the IPO to pay debt and bankroll the expansion of its manufacturing operations in the Philippines. It also plans to invest and develop more products in the meat alternative business.

The Philippine company purchased U.K. meat substitute company Quorn Foods for 550 million pounds in 2015, and before that acquired Black Swan and Nudie, makers of chilled dips and chilled juices, respectively, in Australia. Monde Nissin also has bread and juice ventures in Indonesia and Thailand.

In the Philippines, it also owns the Mama Sita’s condiments brand and Dutch Mill yogurt drink. Monde Nissin’s command of local household brands could dovetail with growing participation of retail investors in the Philippine stock market. Retail investors were responsible for 26.9% of trading value in 2020, up from 18.2% in 2019, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Monde Nissin weathered a pandemic year that put most of the Philippines under prolonged lockdown. The company’s net income grew 21% to 8.1 billion pesos, while net sales rose 3.8% to 67.9 billion pesos.

The planned IPO comes as the Philippines economy is projected to grow 6.5% to 7.5% this year, rebounding from a record 9.5% contraction last year. But that expected recovery has yet to be reflected in the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index, which is down 3.6% for this year.

Monde Nissin has appointed UBS, Citi, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan as joint global coordinators for the IPO, and BDO Capital, BPI Capital and First Metro Investments as local lead underwriters.

This article was originally published by Nikkei Asia

Contact editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)

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