Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

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<p>A group of shareholders plans to raise around US$200m via selling a 4.6% stake in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/i-mab" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28384:1" rel="noopener">I-Mab (IMAB US).</a></p>
<p>We have previously covered the IPO in:</p>
</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/i-mab-pre-ipo-strong-management-and-investor-backing-with-differentiated-products" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I-Mab (天境生物) Pre-IPO: Strong management and investor backing with differentiated products</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/i-mab-ipo-everest-deal-a-valuation-booster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I-Mab (天境生物) IPO: Everest Deal a Valuation Booster</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/i-mab-ipo-trading-tiny-float-and-undemanding-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I-Mab (天境生物) IPO Trading: Tiny Float and Undemanding Valuation</a></li>
</ul></div><div><p>In this insight, we will talk about updates since then and run the deal through our ECM framework.</p></div>


A group of shareholders plans to raise around US$200m via selling a 4.6% stake in I-Mab (IMAB US).
We have previously covered the IPO in:

I-Mab (天境生物) Pre-IPO: Strong management and investor backing with differentiated products
I-Mab (天境生物) IPO: Everest Deal a Valuation Booster
I-Mab (天境生物) IPO Trading: Tiny Float and Undemanding Valuation
In this insight, we will talk about updates since then and run the deal through our ECM framework.

I-Mab Placement - Heading in the Right Direction

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

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<p><strong>SK Bioscience is getting ready to complete its IPO in Korea in March. SK Bioscience will be the biggest IPO in Korea so far this year in 2021.</strong> The IPO price range is from 49,000 won to 65,000 won. The IPO deal base size ranges from US$1.0 billion to US$1.3 billion. The expected market cap after the IPO ranges from 3.8 trillion won to 5.0 trillion won, according to the bankers's valuation. The book building for the institutional investors starts on 4 March 2021. The lead bankers on this IPO include NH Investment &amp; Securities, Korea Investment &amp; Securities, and Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities. </p>
<p>Institutional investors will be allocated about 55% of the deal and retail 25%, and the rest will go to an employee stock ownership plan. There is a voluntary lock-up of 15 days to six months for investors. SK Bioscience is currently 98% owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-chemicals-co-ltd-new" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26190:1" rel="noopener">Sk Chemicals Co Ltd/New (285130 KS) </a>and the latter company is 33.5% owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-discovery-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5181:1" rel="noopener">Sk Discovery (006120 KS)</a>. </p>
<p>SK Bioscience was spun off from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-chemicals-co-ltd-new" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26190:1" rel="noopener">Sk Chemicals Co Ltd/New (285130 KS)</a> in July 2018. SK Biosciene specializes in making vaccines. SK Bioscience is backed by <strong>Bill Gates.</strong> In June 2020, Bill Gates mentioned that SK Bioscience may be capable of producing 200 million COVID-19 vaccine kits by June 2021. The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates foundation <a href="https://www.skchemicals.com/prcenter/new_view.do" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave</a> $3.6 million in May to SK Bioscience to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines. </p>
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SK Bioscience is getting ready to complete its IPO in Korea in March. SK Bioscience will be the biggest IPO in Korea so far this year in 2021. The IPO price range is from 49,000 won to 65,000 won. The IPO deal base size ranges from US$1.0 billion to US$1.3 billion. The expected market cap after the IPO ranges from 3.8 trillion won to 5.0 trillion won, according to the bankers's valuation. The book building for the institutional investors starts on 4 March 2021. The lead bankers on this IPO include NH Investment &amp; Securities, Korea Investment &amp; Securities, and Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities. 
Institutional investors will be allocated about 55% of the deal and retail 25%, and the rest will go to an employee stock ownership plan. There is a voluntary lock-up of 15 days to six months for investors. SK Bioscience is currently 98% owned by Sk Chemicals Co Ltd/New (285130 KS) and the latter company is 33.5% owned by Sk Discovery (006120 KS). 
SK Bioscience was spun off from Sk Chemicals Co Ltd/New (285130 KS) in July 2018. SK Biosciene specializes in making vaccines. SK Bioscience is backed by Bill Gates. In June 2020, Bill Gates mentioned that SK Bioscience may be capable of producing 200 million COVID-19 vaccine kits by June 2021. The Bill &amp; Melinda Gates foundation gave $3.6 million in May to SK Bioscience to accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccines. 


SK Bioscience IPO Preview - Biggest IPO in Korea in 1Q 2021

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Event-Driven

<p>The short sell ban in Korea that was instated on 16 March 2020 is set to expire on 15 March.</p><p>However, with mayoral elections in Seoul and Busan around the corner, politicians are said to be leaning on the FSC to extend the short sell ban. Add to that the retail outrage - from petitions to the Blue House, bus tours, and posts on K-Streetbets of targeting stocks with high short interest.</p><p>There is a high likelihood that the short sell ban gets extended by three more months to tide the politicians over the mayoral elections.</p><p>In the event that the short sell ban expires, we highlight stocks that have seen the most short covering since the start of the short sell ban, stocks with high short interest as a percentage of market cap and free float, and high days of ADV to cover.</p><p>This will have implications for many strategies and will open the door to trade the ordinaries vs preferred shares, long/short and other related strategies.</p>

The short sell ban in Korea that was instated on 16 March 2020 is set to expire on 15 March.However, with mayoral elections in Seoul and Busan around the corner, politicians are said to be leaning on the FSC to extend the short sell ban. Add to that the retail outrage - from petitions to the Blue House, bus tours, and posts on K-Streetbets of targeting stocks with high short interest.There is a high likelihood that the short sell ban gets extended by three more months to tide the politicians over the mayoral elections.In the event that the short sell ban expires, we highlight stocks that have seen the most short covering since the start of the short sell ban, stocks with high short interest as a percentage of market cap and free float, and high days of ADV to cover.This will have implications for many strategies and will open the door to trade the ordinaries vs preferred shares, long/short and other related strategies.

Korea Short Sell Ban: Elections, Public Outrage, Bus Tours, Blue House Petitions, K-Streetbets

Quantitative Analysis

<div><p>The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.</p></div><div><p>Hong Kong saw shorts rise on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/byd-co-ltd-h" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20962:1" rel="noopener">BYD (1211 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hong-kong-exchanges-clearing" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:490:1" rel="noopener">HKEX (388 HK)</a> while there was short covering on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/smoore-international" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28241:1" rel="noopener">Smoore International (6969 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gcl-poly-energy-holdings-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3708:1" rel="noopener">Gcl Poly Energy Holdings Limited (3800 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/innovent-biologics-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27452:1" rel="noopener">Innovent Biologics Inc (1801 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sunny-optical-tech" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13363:1" rel="noopener">Sunny Optical (2382 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/xiaomi-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:24409:1" rel="noopener">Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK)</a>. Shorts increased on Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services, Financials, Consumer Staples and Industrials, while decreasing on Information Technology, Real Estate and Health Care.</p></div><div><p>In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/olympus-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:356:1" rel="noopener">Olympus Corp (7733 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dai-ichi-life-insurance" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1109:1" rel="noopener">Dai Ichi Life Insurance (8750 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nomura-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:742:1" rel="noopener">Nomura Holdings (8604 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/mitsubishi-ufj-financial-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:218:1" rel="noopener">Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)</a> while shorts decreased on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/anritsu-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3700:1" rel="noopener">Anritsu Corp (6754 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lasertec-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4126:1" rel="noopener">Lasertec Corp (6920 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sharp-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:391:1" rel="noopener">Sharp Corp (6753 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/square-enix-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15003:1" rel="noopener">Square Enix Holdings (9684 JP)</a>. Sectorally, shorts increased on Financials, Industrials and Health Care, while decreasing on Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary.</p></div><div><p>In Korea, there were short positions put on in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-display-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7145:1" rel="noopener">LG Display (034220 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gs-engineering-construct" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15916:1" rel="noopener">GS Engineering &amp; Construction (006360 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lg-chem-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3583:1" rel="noopener">LG Chem Ltd (051910 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hyundai-mobis-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6089:1" rel="noopener">Hyundai Mobis (012330 KS)</a> while shorts were covered in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/netmarble-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22839:1" rel="noopener">Netmarble Corporation (251270 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-biologics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22932:1" rel="noopener">Samsung Biologics Co., (207940 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/celltrion-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:991:1" rel="noopener">Celltrion Inc (068270 KS)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a>. </p></div><div>
<p>Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/united-microelectronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6450:1" rel="noopener">United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/innolux-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4509:1" rel="noopener">Innolux Corp (3481 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/e-sun-financial-holding-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:719:1" rel="noopener">E.Sun Financial Holding Co (2884 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a> while shorts were covered on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/evergreen-marine-corp-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15428:1" rel="noopener">Evergreen Marine Corp (2603 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/acer-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15726:1" rel="noopener">Acer Inc (2353 TT)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pegatron-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12852:1" rel="noopener">Pegatron Corp (4938 TT)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ase-technology-holding-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27270:1" rel="noopener">ASE Technology Holding Co Ltd (3711 TT)</a>.</p>
<p>Following the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gamestop-corp-class-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13790:1" rel="noopener">GameStop Corp Class A (GME US)</a> saga, we have added tables in each market with the largest stocks in terms of days of ADV to cover.</p>
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The Asia Short Interest weekly looks at moves in market wide short interest and highlights movements in stock specific short interest across Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan using the last available data published by the relevant authorities.Hong Kong saw shorts rise on BYD (1211 HK), Meituan (3690 HK), Tencent Holdings (700 HK), Alibaba Group (9988 HK) and HKEX (388 HK) while there was short covering on Smoore International (6969 HK), Gcl Poly Energy Holdings Limited (3800 HK), Innovent Biologics Inc (1801 HK), Sunny Optical (2382 HK) and Xiaomi Corp (1810 HK). Shorts increased on Consumer Discretionary, Communication Services, Financials, Consumer Staples and Industrials, while decreasing on Information Technology, Real Estate and Health Care.In Japan, stocks that saw the most shorts were Olympus Corp (7733 JP), Dai Ichi Life Insurance (8750 JP), Nomura Holdings (8604 JP) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP) while shorts decreased on Anritsu Corp (6754 JP), Lasertec Corp (6920 JP), Sharp Corp (6753 JP) and Square Enix Holdings (9684 JP). Sectorally, shorts increased on Financials, Industrials and Health Care, while decreasing on Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary.In Korea, there were short positions put on in LG Display (034220 KS), GS Engineering &amp; Construction (006360 KS), LG Chem Ltd (051910 KS) and Hyundai Mobis (012330 KS) while shorts were covered in Netmarble Corporation (251270 KS), Samsung Biologics Co., (207940 KS), Celltrion Inc (068270 KS) and Kakao Corp (035720 KS). 
Stocks in Taiwan that saw the highest increase in shorts were United Microelectronics Corp (2303 TT), Innolux Corp (3481 TT), E.Sun Financial Holding Co (2884 TT) and TSMC (2330 TT) while shorts were covered on Evergreen Marine Corp (2603 TT), Acer Inc (2353 TT), Pegatron Corp (4938 TT) and ASE Technology Holding Co Ltd (3711 TT).
Following the GameStop Corp Class A (GME US) saga, we have added tables in each market with the largest stocks in terms of days of ADV to cover.


Asia Short Interest: BYD, Smoore, GCL Poly, Olympus, Nomura, Anritsu, Netmarble, UMC, Innolux, Acer

Founder/CEO of ROK Advisory, ROK Advisory LLC

Ken S. Kim

Founder/CEO of ROK Advisory

ROK Advisory LLC

ROK is an independent research advisory firm. We guide you to minimize the information gap between foreign and local investors in Northeast Asia with a focus in Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

Independent Research Advisory Firm

<p>The result of the guilty verdict was expected by the local media but what does this mean for the future of the Samsung Group? 5 key takeaways on what to expect and impact on the Samsung Group and its affiliates. </p>

The result of the guilty verdict was expected by the local media but what does this mean for the future of the Samsung Group? 5 key takeaways on what to expect and impact on the Samsung Group and its affiliates. 

JY Lee & The Ides of March.....and What It Means for You

South Korea

Samsung Biologics Co.,Ltd. manufactures bio-healthcare products. The Company develops, refines, and distributes biopharmaceutical products.

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Samsung Biologics (207940 KS)

I-Mab Placement - Heading in the Right Direction

A group of shareholders plans to raise around US$200m via selling a 4.6% stake in I-Mab (IMAB US). We have previously covered the IPO as well.

Sumeet Singh

SK Bioscience IPO Preview - Biggest IPO in Korea in 1Q 2021

SK Bioscience is getting ready to complete its IPO in Korea in March. SK Bioscience will be the biggest IPO in Korea so far this year in 2021. The...

Douglas Kim

Korea Short Sell Ban: Elections, Public Outrage, Bus Tours, Blue House Petitions, K-Streetbets

With the short sell ban in Korea scheduled to expire 15 March, we look at stocks that have seen the most short covering since the start of the ban,...

Brian Freitas

Asia Short Interest: BYD, Smoore, GCL Poly, Olympus, Nomura, Anritsu, Netmarble, UMC, Innolux, Acer

The Insight looks at large short interest movements across HK, Japan, Korea and Taiwan stocks and highlights large increases/decreases in shorts to...

Brian Freitas

JY Lee & The Ides of March.....and What It Means for You

The impact of the JY Lee jail sentencing and what it means for Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T and its affiliates down the line.

Ken S. Kim

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