Monde Nissin, the Manila-based owners of Quorn Foods and manufacturers of the hugely popular Lucky Me! instant noodles brand, is looking to raise up to $1.3bn through what is expected to be the Philippines’ largest-ever IPO. The company is seeking regulatory approval to sell up to 3.6 billion primary shares at a maximum price of $0.36 each and has an option to sell up to 540 million additional shares through an over-allotment.
The company has yet to announce a timetable for the public offering, but has indicated that it will use the proceeds from the IPO to pay off some of its debt and bankroll the expansion of its domestic manufacturing operations. It also plans to invest and develop more products in the meat alternative business to complement its investment in Quorn. According to a recent Meat Substitutes Market report, the global meat alternative industry was worth around $1.6bn in 2019 and could have more than doubled to $3.5bn by 2026 at a CAGR of 12%.The market is primarily driven by the increasing demand for plant-based meat products among the millennials.
Monde Nissin purchased the UK meat substitute company Quorn Foods for $830m in 2015, and before that acquired Black Swan and Nudie, both in Australia. It also has bread and juice ventures in Indonesia and Thailand and owns the Dutch Mill yogurt drink and Mama Sita’s condiments brand at home.
The filing comes as the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2020 when only three IPOs were launched and trading was consistently weak due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s economy is projected to grow between 6.5% and 7.5% this year, after last year’s record contraction of 9.5% These projections have yet to be reflected in the PSE’s index, however, which is down 3.6% for the year so far.