By Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

MONDE Nissin Corp. has set the final price of its maiden offering to P13.50, around 23% lower than the P17.50 ceiling declared in its registration statement after receiving advisory from its banking partners.

“Upon the recommendation and after consultation with the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, the offer price for the initial public offering of Monde Nissin Corp.’s common shares has been fixed at P13.50 per common share,” the company said in a disclosure on Thursday.

The Lucky Me! noodles manufacturer initially said it would offer 3.6 billion common shares, with an overallotment option of up to 540 million shares.

BusinessWorld sought comment from Monde Nissin, but a representative declined to provide further statements about the initial public offering (IPO).

“The final offer price is cheaper than what’s initially expected by the public so we could see the market show more interest in Monde [Nissin]’s IPO,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Head of Sales Luis A. Limlingan said in a Viber message on Thursday.

COL Financial Group, Inc. Chief Technical Analyst Juanis G. Barredo said that it seems “adequately priced.”

“And considering that [it] seems to show a healthy sales growth rate of around 12% and a fast-growing Quorn business, it does show worthy potential,” Mr. Barredo said in a separate Viber message.

In Monde Nissin’s preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March, the company bared its plans for market expansion in the US through its Quorn Foods brand.

“Our analysts made a rough estimate of around 25.5X PE (price to earnings ratio) for 2021 at its P13.50 [per] share [compared with] URC (Universal Robina Corp.), which is around 24X PE,” Mr. Barredo explained.

Meanwhile, Diversified Securities, Inc. Equity Trader Aniceto K. Pangan said the final offer price of Monde Nissin’s maiden offering is “about fairly valued at [an] industry level.”

“We just hope that this would be enough to attract investors [especially] on the prevailing negative market sentiment with most investors on the sidelines,” Mr. Pangan said in a text message.

For AAA Southeast Equities, Inc. Research Head Christopher John J. Mangun, the sale may depend on the demand of foreign investors.

“[The price] makes the offer more attractive. It all came down to the demand, specifically of foreign investors. This was expected due to the current market conditions,” he said via e-mail.

“[However,] this may push back its original timeline of two years to complete the expansion of its Batangas facility and UK facilities which is acceptable as demand may [remain] subdued anyway due to the pandemic,” Mr. Mangun said.

Monde Nissin said further filings of the prospectus will reflect the P13.50 pricing and its effects “on relevant sections of the prospectus.”

In April, the company received approval for its IPO from the SEC and the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Monde Nissin’s offer period is slated to run from May 24 to 28, while its debut at the local bourse is tentatively scheduled on June 7.

“The success of this offering will enable them to [resume] their growth path and help them mitigate the effects of the crisis [through] the reduction of their debt exposure,” Diversified Securities’ Mr. Pangan said.

 

Note: The story was updated to reflect changes in Mr. Pangan’s commentary.

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