Brief: $1.3bn Quorn IPO gets greenlight in Philippines

• The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved the proposed IPO of local food manufacturer Monde Nissin. The offering is expected to begin late next month with a tentative listing date of June 7.
• The Santa Rosa, Laguna-based company – which filed for the IPO last month – owns popular Philippine brands including Lucky Me! instant noodles and Monde baked goods. It also owns globally recognized alt-protein brands Quorn and Cauldron Foods.
• Monde Nissin expects to raise 63 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) through the sale of 3.6 billion common shares priced at a maximum price of 17.50 pesos each, which would make it the Philippines’ biggest-ever IPO.

Why it matters:

Monde Nissin owns Quorn, one of the oldest and most well-known alt-protein brands on the market. Launched in the UK in 1985, Quorn – which developed a range of mycoprotein meat substitutes using yeast production methods from the bakery industry – was acquired by Monde Nissin at auction in 2015, with the Philippine group paying its private equity owners £550 million ($831 million).

Monde Nissin’s meat alternatives business, comprising Quorn and Cauldron, contributed a reported 22% to the Philippine company’s FY 2020 net sales of $1.4 billion.

IPO proceeds will help Monde Nissin to expand production and distribution of Quorn products worldwide, tapping into increasing consumer demand for alternative protein products.

CEO Henry Soesanto has also invested in numerous alt-protein ventures in an individual capacity, including Singaporean cell-cultured seafood startup Shiok Meats and plant-based protein maker Karana. He also joined in the $30 million first close for Shanghai-based VC Bits x Bites‘ China-focused fund alongside Temasek and others.