Monde Nissin IPO shakes up Philippine market

MANILA • Food giant Monde Nissin's record-breaking entry into the Philippine stock market is driving a shake-up that is impacting everything from the nation's consumer sector to the holdings of some of the biggest money managers.

Investors say the 48.6 billion peso (S$1.3 billion) initial public offering (IPO) - the biggest debut in the South-east Asian country - is pushing them to reallocate funds from existing consumer-staples holdings and even sell blue-chip stocks from other sectors to pay for a slice of the snack brand that debuts tomorrow.

Average volume on the benchmark stock index is up nearly one-third since the March 4 IPO filing, compared with the start of the year.

Overseas heavyweights, including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Hong Kong insurer AIA Group, have also taken stakes in the Quorn-maker, which has won favour for its prospects in the fast-growing global market for alternatives to meat.

The company's dominant position in the Philippines for basic foods like noodles has added to its allure because of the strong revenue stream it provides during economic downturns.

The blockbuster share sale is providing a rare bright spot for a market that until last week was the most unloved in the world. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index is down 6.5 per cent this year.

At its 13.5 peso per share IPO price, Monde is valued at 242.6 billion pesos. This would make it the 14th-biggest company by this measure on the 30-member Philippine Stock Exchange Index.

Monde's Quorn meat-alternative operations accounted for 22 per cent of its revenue last year. It gets more than 94 per cent of its non-meat alternative sales from the Philippines.

BLOOMBERG