By Rishav Chatterjee
(Reuters) - Mynt, which operates the Philippine e-wallet brand and IPO-hopeful GCash, has more than doubled its valuation to $5 billion following investments from Ayala Corp and Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MUFG) Financial, the companies said in separate statements on Friday.
Ayala Corp, one of the Philippines' oldest conglomerate, said it has acquired an additional 8% stake in mobile financial services firm Mynt, also known as Globe Fintech Innovations, for 22.9 billion pesos ($393.07 million). This increases Ayala's ownership in Mynt to 13%.
The Philippines is among the fastest-growing fintech markets in Southeast Asia, with a surge in adoption of digital services during the pandemic.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG), Japan's largest banking group, plans to invest $393 million in Mynt for an 8% stake.
MUFG has previously backed other Asia-Pacific startups and technology companies such as Grab and Akulaku.
"The Philippines has a high mobile phone and internet penetration, creating a solid foundation for the development of digital financial services," MUFG said in a statement.
Mynt is a joint venture between Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)'s affiliate Ant Group, Ayala and communications firm Globe Telecom (OTC:GTMEY).
Globe Telecom owns around 35% of Mynt, while China's Ant Group holds about 34% stake.
Mynt started to break-even in the second half of 2021, and Jefferies expects that it could already account for around 20% for Globe Telecom's 2024 earnings.
Mynt's "profitability is soaring" while expecting earnings to be close to $200 million in 2024, analysts have said.
Globe Telecom CEO Ernest Cu in a May interview said GCash may go public in the Philippines in 2025. Cu also chairs Mynt.
Mynt predominantly fights in the startup market with the Philippines' only other unicorn Voyager, a fintech firm, which enjoys a valuation of more than $1 billion.
($1 = 58.2600 Philippine pesos)
(This story has been corrected to say 'Alibaba's affiliate Ant Group', not 'Alibaba's Ant Group', in paragraph 7)