Maya, the Philippine digital bank and e-wallet backed by PLDT, KKR and Tencent, now plans to go public in 2027, its chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said on Oct. 28, a week after rival GCash's parent Mynt raised a record P60.9 billion on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Pangilinan told reporters at the sidelines of Meralco's results briefing in Pasig City that the plan to list was still alive but that "it's too late for this year," GMA News reported. The new timing pushes back an earlier goal of the second half of 2026, according to InsiderPH.

For investors in Southeast Asian fintech, the question is less whether Maya lists than where. Pangilinan has told the company's foreign shareholders he has no objection to a Nasdaq listing, but he wants Philippine investors to have a chance to buy in too. A listing at home would give the Manila market a second large, liquid payments stock just as Mynt has reset expectations for what a local tech offering can raise.

Mynt Sets the Benchmark for Maya

Mynt sold about 8.03 billion shares at P6.60 each, raising about P60.9 billion, or roughly US$967 million, including an overallotment option, Reuters reported. That made it the largest IPO in Philippine history, ahead of Monde Nissin's P52.2 billion deal in 2021, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

The debut was steady rather than spectacular. Mynt opened at P6.64 on Oct. 20, giving it a market capitalization of about P441.5 billion (about US$7 billion), GMA News reported. Reuters said the stock rose as much as 2.4% to P6.76 before closing flat at the offer price. PSE President and CEO Ramon Monzon said Mynt became the seventh-largest domestic company on the exchange.

Global funds including BlackRock, Citadel and Fidelity International bought into the offering, according to Reuters. Mynt is backed by Globe Telecom, Ant Group and Ayala Corp., and GCash had 41.5 million monthly active users in the three months to June 30, Reuters said.

Ke Yan, head of research at Singapore-based Shenton Research, told Reuters that a flat first day was "a plausible outcome given the development of regional listings." He added that issuers have to weigh valuation against getting a deal completed.

Pangilinan pointed to the Mynt deal as evidence that investors will pay for quality companies. He acknowledged that Maya is smaller but said its offering could still be "a successful issue, appropriate to their size," according to InsiderPH.

Nasdaq or Manila: Maya's Listing Choice

The listing venue has split Maya's owners. PLDT and its Hong Kong-listed parent First Pacific together hold about 39.6% of Maya, according to Fintech News Philippines, while other shareholders include KKR, Tencent and the International Finance Corp.

Maya's private equity investors, including KKR and Tencent, reportedly prefer an offshore offering, possibly for a higher valuation, Fintech News Philippines said. PSE chief Monzon has openly courted the company, and recalled that Pangilinan would accept a dual listing "at the very worst."

GMA News said the current plan, first disclosed by Pangilinan in February, calls for an IPO in both the Philippines and the United States. Pangilinan has said he would go along with a U.S. listing if other shareholders want it, as long as there is also a domestic one.

Asked whether Maya's decision hinged on how Mynt shares trade, Monzon said "not necessarily," pointing instead to the mix of foreign and local investors the GCash deal drew, according to Fintech News Philippines.

What Maya Brings to Market

Maya is the second-largest player in a market GCash dominates. The Maya Group reported net income of P1.7 billion in 2025, its first full year of profit, and about P68 billion in deposits at end-2025, according to a company release reported by InsiderPH. Neither Maya nor Pangilinan has disclosed an offering size, valuation or share count.

The IPO would raise fresh capital for the company and give some existing investors a way to sell down, according to Fintech News Philippines. No listing structure or schedule has been announced.

Maya is not the only Pangilinan group company on the calendar. PLDT has moved the IPO of its data center real estate investment trust, VITRO REIT, to 2027 after postponing a planned October debut. Pangilinan said that taking "two major companies a year is not so bad," Fintech News Philippines reported. He has also floated listings for a tollways business that could follow the merger of Metro Pacific's and San Miguel's expressway units, and for Metro Pacific's hospital network, InsiderPH said.

The next marker for Maya's plans is how Mynt trades once its stabilization period ends. UBS, the stabilizing agent, may buy up to 1.204 billion overallotment shares in the open market, Reuters reported, and the final size of that exercise will show how much support the record listing needed.