APAC IPOs & Placements

Zhen Zhou, Toh

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 Bottom-Up

New Oriental Education & Techn / Equity Bottom-Up

<p>China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening of regulations on after-school tutoring sector including online education sectors. </p><p>In this note, we will discuss how we would position heading into the tightening of regulations.</p>

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening of regulations on after-school tutoring sector including online education sectors. In this note, we will discuss how we would position heading into the tightening of regulations.

China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

Equity Capital Markets

Full Truck Alliance   / Equity Capital Markets

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/full-truck-alliance" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33429:1" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance (YMM US)</a> (FTA),  China’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, raised around US$1.6bn via a US listing. It is backed by Softbank and Sequoia.</p></div><div>
<p>In our earlier notes, we spoke about various aspects of the deal in our earlier notes:<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-the-positives-category-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-the-positives-category-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Positives - Category Leader, </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-the-negatives-still-a-mixed-bag" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Still a Mixed Bag,</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-valuation-even-the-previous-round-might-have-been-a-stretch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - Valuation, Even the Previous Round Might Have Been a Stretch, and</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-ipo-decent-investor-line-up-at-best-a-punt-at-these-valuations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance IPO - Decent Investor Line-Up, at Best a Punt at These Valuations</a></li>
</ul>
<p>In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.</p>
</div>

Full Truck Alliance (YMM US) (FTA),  China’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, raised around US$1.6bn via a US listing. It is backed by Softbank and Sequoia.
In our earlier notes, we spoke about various aspects of the deal in our earlier notes:

Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Positives - Category Leader, 
Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Still a Mixed Bag,
Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - Valuation, Even the Previous Round Might Have Been a Stretch, and
Full Truck Alliance IPO - Decent Investor Line-Up, at Best a Punt at These Valuations

In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.


Full Truck Alliance IPO Trading - Have to Do a Bull Case to Find Some Upside

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/soulgate-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33304:1" rel="noopener">Soulgate (SSR US)</a> is an alternative social networking platform that lets users have virtual identities and aims to recommend to each user (referred to as a Souler) curated content and other Soulers with similar personalities, lifestyles and interests, enabling more in-depth interactions and more meaningful connections. Soulgate is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> (49.9% of outstanding shares, 25.7% of outstanding shares). </p></div><div>
<p>At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.0-15.00 per ADS, Soulgate will have a market cap of $1.7 billion. New investors Janus Henderson and Boyu Capital intend to purchase a total of $80 million worth of ADSs in the offering (43.3% of the deal). At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds including the concurrent private placement are $257.3 million. </p>
<p>Soulgate will also raise an additional $89 million in a concurrent private placement with miHoYo. miHoYo was founded in 2012 by three Shanghai Jiaotong University graduate students. miHoYo is the creator of <em>Genshin Impact</em>, an open-world action role-playing game released in 2020, and one of the highest-grossing mobile games. It is not entirely clear if there are any near-term synergies through this investment. Currently, Soulgate's exposure to games is largely limited to its <em>Werewolf Rooms</em> (a subset of its <em>Animated Partyroom</em> app functionality) which enable users to play the popular board game <em>Werewolf</em>.</p>
</div><div><div>
<p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/soulgate-ipo-initiation-lost-soul" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:51651" rel="noopener">Soulgate IPO Initiation: Lost Soul,</a> we opined at first glance, Soulgate is well-positioned to benefit from a sizeable China’s mobile social networking market. The strong growth in users, fast-paced revenue growth and ongoing revenue diversification suggest that Soulgate is heading in the right direction. However, the high S&amp;M expenses which exceeded revenue in each of the last three quarters, suggests that Soulgate is aggressively chasing user growth without paying much heed to monetisation and payback periods. This modus operandi is highly reflective of growth at all costs strategy. Overall, we think that the negatives in the Soulgate story warrant a pass.  </p>
<div class="content-highlight"><p>Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. Overall, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's growth at all costs strategy will generate shareholder value, we are inclined to give this IPO a pass. </p></div>
</div></div>

Soulgate (SSR US) is an alternative social networking platform that lets users have virtual identities and aims to recommend to each user (referred to as a Souler) curated content and other Soulers with similar personalities, lifestyles and interests, enabling more in-depth interactions and more meaningful connections. Soulgate is backed by Tencent (700 HK) (49.9% of outstanding shares, 25.7% of outstanding shares). 
At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.0-15.00 per ADS, Soulgate will have a market cap of $1.7 billion. New investors Janus Henderson and Boyu Capital intend to purchase a total of $80 million worth of ADSs in the offering (43.3% of the deal). At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds including the concurrent private placement are $257.3 million. 
Soulgate will also raise an additional $89 million in a concurrent private placement with miHoYo. miHoYo was founded in 2012 by three Shanghai Jiaotong University graduate students. miHoYo is the creator of Genshin Impact, an open-world action role-playing game released in 2020, and one of the highest-grossing mobile games. It is not entirely clear if there are any near-term synergies through this investment. Currently, Soulgate's exposure to games is largely limited to its Werewolf Rooms (a subset of its Animated Partyroom app functionality) which enable users to play the popular board game Werewolf.

In Soulgate IPO Initiation: Lost Soul, we opined at first glance, Soulgate is well-positioned to benefit from a sizeable China’s mobile social networking market. The strong growth in users, fast-paced revenue growth and ongoing revenue diversification suggest that Soulgate is heading in the right direction. However, the high S&amp;M expenses which exceeded revenue in each of the last three quarters, suggests that Soulgate is aggressively chasing user growth without paying much heed to monetisation and payback periods. This modus operandi is highly reflective of growth at all costs strategy. Overall, we think that the negatives in the Soulgate story warrant a pass.  
Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. Overall, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's growth at all costs strategy will generate shareholder value, we are inclined to give this IPO a pass. 


Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

<div class="content-highlight">
<p>Unlike 2H 2020 when many global tech stocks were roaring higher, it has been more selective so far in 2021, especially among the Chinese tech stocks. In this insight, we discuss the outlook for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tuya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32158:1" rel="noopener">Tuya Inc (TUYA US)</a>, which appears to have one of the best momentum among Chinese tech stocks post first quarter results. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tuya-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32158:1" rel="noopener">Tuya Inc (TUYA US)</a>'s current share price is $26, up 24% from the IPO price of $21. The stock has especially been very strong in May as it is up 34% this month. </p>
<p>Among the 16 major Chinese tech stocks mentioned in this report, Tuya had the highest sales growth rate of 200% YoY in 1Q 2021. The average YoY sales growth of these 16 stocks were 58.6% in 1Q 2021. There were only three stocks that had more than 100% YoY sales growth rate in 1Q 2021, which included Tuya, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pinduoduo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27250:1" rel="noopener">Pinduoduo (PDD US)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zhihu-technology-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32185:1" rel="noopener">Zhihu Technology (ZH US)</a>. </p>
<p>Our conclusion is that we continue to like Tuya as it has one of the best growth prospects among major Chinese tech stocks. It is also experiencing significant improvement in its operating margins. Although its valuation multiple is the highest among the 16 companies mentioned in this insight, we believe investors are willing to pay higher multiples for companies such as Tuya which is experiencing a combination of very strong sales growth as well as improving operating losses as a percentage of revenues. </p>
</div>


Unlike 2H 2020 when many global tech stocks were roaring higher, it has been more selective so far in 2021, especially among the Chinese tech stocks. In this insight, we discuss the outlook for Tuya Inc (TUYA US), which appears to have one of the best momentum among Chinese tech stocks post first quarter results. Tuya Inc (TUYA US)'s current share price is $26, up 24% from the IPO price of $21. The stock has especially been very strong in May as it is up 34% this month. 
Among the 16 major Chinese tech stocks mentioned in this report, Tuya had the highest sales growth rate of 200% YoY in 1Q 2021. The average YoY sales growth of these 16 stocks were 58.6% in 1Q 2021. There were only three stocks that had more than 100% YoY sales growth rate in 1Q 2021, which included Tuya, Pinduoduo (PDD US), and Zhihu Technology (ZH US). 
Our conclusion is that we continue to like Tuya as it has one of the best growth prospects among major Chinese tech stocks. It is also experiencing significant improvement in its operating margins. Although its valuation multiple is the highest among the 16 companies mentioned in this insight, we believe investors are willing to pay higher multiples for companies such as Tuya which is experiencing a combination of very strong sales growth as well as improving operating losses as a percentage of revenues. 


Tuya's Strong Momentum & A Review of China's Tech Stocks Results in 1Q 2021

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/waterdrop-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33018:1" rel="noopener">Waterdrop Inc (WDH US)</a> is the largest independent third-party insurance platform in China as measured by life and health insurance first-year premiums (FYP) distributed in 2020, according to iResearch. Waterdrop is backed by <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/swiss-re-ag-1f83dcbc-730e-46fa-82f2-bfe7e8e361a1" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27914:1" rel="noopener">Swiss Re AG (SREN SW)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>.</p></div><div><p>At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $10.00-12.00 per ADS, Waterdrop will have a market cap of $4.3 billion. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds are $301.6 million. New and existing shareholders have indicated on $210 million of the IPO, including Boyu Capital ($100 million), HOPU Investments (at least $80 million), and Kevin Sunny Holding ($30 million). The indications of interest represent 63.6% of the ADSs on offer at the mid-point of the IPO price range.</p></div><div><div><div class="content-highlight"><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/waterdrop-ipo-initiation-going-for-brokers" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:50610" rel="noopener">Waterdrop IPO Initiation: Going for Brokers</a>, we opined that as a leading online third-party insurance broker, Waterdrop is well-positioned to benefit from favourable industry trends. The key unknown is whether the changing regulations will throw a spanner in the works. Notwithstanding the regulatory overhang, we concluded that Waterdrop is worth a look. Our analysis suggests that the IPO price range is full at the high-end but has some upside at the low-end. </p></div></div></div>

Waterdrop Inc (WDH US) is the largest independent third-party insurance platform in China as measured by life and health insurance first-year premiums (FYP) distributed in 2020, according to iResearch. Waterdrop is backed by Tencent Holdings (700 HK), Swiss Re AG (SREN SW) and Meituan (3690 HK).At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $10.00-12.00 per ADS, Waterdrop will have a market cap of $4.3 billion. At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds are $301.6 million. New and existing shareholders have indicated on $210 million of the IPO, including Boyu Capital ($100 million), HOPU Investments (at least $80 million), and Kevin Sunny Holding ($30 million). The indications of interest represent 63.6% of the ADSs on offer at the mid-point of the IPO price range.In Waterdrop IPO Initiation: Going for Brokers, we opined that as a leading online third-party insurance broker, Waterdrop is well-positioned to benefit from favourable industry trends. The key unknown is whether the changing regulations will throw a spanner in the works. Notwithstanding the regulatory overhang, we concluded that Waterdrop is worth a look. Our analysis suggests that the IPO price range is full at the high-end but has some upside at the low-end. 

China

Zhihu Inc. operates as an online share knowledge community. The Company provides a socialized website for questions and answers which enables users to obtain information through questions that provoke the opinions and views from answerers as individuals. Zhihu conducts businesses in China.

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Zhihu Technology (ZH US)

China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening...

Zhen Zhou, Toh

Full Truck Alliance IPO Trading - Have to Do a Bull Case to Find Some Upside

Full Truck Alliance (YMM US) (FTA), China’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, raised around US$1.6bn via a US listing....

Sumeet Singh

Soulgate IPO: Valuation Insights

The IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. However, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's strategy will generate...

Arun George

Tuya's Strong Momentum & A Review of China's Tech Stocks Results in 1Q 2021

We continue to like Tuya as it has one of the best growth prospects among major Chinese tech stocks. It is also experiencing significant...

Douglas Kim

Waterdrop IPO: Valuation Insights

Waterdrop has launched its IPO to raise net proceeds of $301.6 million at the mid-point of the price range of $10-12. The price range is full at...

Arun George

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