Structure and Capital Market Tool
IFC and ADB provided a USD 245 million anchor investment, alongside the MOBILIST programme (USD 10 million) and a diversified group of private sector investors. It was also the second IPO in the Philippines supported by MOBILIST. Domestic cornerstone investors included BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BPI Asset Management and Trust Corporation, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, and Security Bank Corporation.
The capital raised through the listing will be used to upgrade and expand the city's water infrastructure. This includes implementing networks of sensors to identify the precise locations of maintenance needs to manage the water supply more effectively.
Background and Market Context
In 2023, over half of the population in the Philippines lacked access to safely managed water supply, and only 63% had access to sanitation. Estimates show that over USD 18 billion will be needed to achieve universal access to water supply and sanitation by 2030, in line with the SDGs. With an OECD review finding that 75% of sustainable infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia were fully funded by public sources, closing the region's SDG financing gaps will require mobilising private capital at scale.
Maynilad Water Services supplies water and wastewater services to over 9 million people across Manila's West Zone. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the UK government's MOBILIST programme served as cornerstone investors in Maynilad's IPO on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), helping to anchor a listing that raised USD 590 million and mobilised private investment for critical water infrastructure in Manila. The listing took place in November 2025 and was the second-largest IPO ever achieved on the PSE.
Development Impact
Maynilad's IPO demonstrates that essential utilities in emerging markets can attract institutional capital at scale through public listings, with development finance investors playing a catalytic role. In this classic demand-side case, cornerstone commitments from MOBILIST, IFC and ADB anchored the transaction and provided a strong signal to a broad base of international and domestic institutional investors, from global asset managers to leading Philippine banks.