In this briefing:
- Hankook Tire Stub Trade: Sub Clearly Oversold Relative to Holdco on Hanon Takeover
- ECM Weekly (30 March 2019) – ESR, Yunji, Ruhnn, Jinxin Fertility, Metropolis Health, Viva Biotech
- Billionaire Carl Icahn’s Run at Caesars Has yet to Move Stock. What Doesn’t the Market See?
- Japan Mobile: MVNO Data for Q3 Includes Slowest Growth Since 2014 but that Makes Sense for Rakuten
- Havells India
1. Hankook Tire Stub Trade: Sub Clearly Oversold Relative to Holdco on Hanon Takeover
- Hankook Tire Holdco/Sub are at +2σ for 5 consecutive days now. It was reported on Mar 25 that Sub (Hankook Tire) was on the verge of taking over Hanon Systems at a hefty 70% premium. Hankook Tire pays ₩5tril for Hahn & Co’s 50% stake.
- ₩5tril is really a lot for the Group. Holdco will also have to be heavily involved in funding. Whatever suffering Sub will have to endure should also be nearly equally applied to Holdco.
- Only long-term oriented local public offering funds had heavily dumped Sub shares. In contrast, highly short-term oriented local hedge funds (PEs) had rather shorted Holdco in the same time span. Sub disappoints and alienates a lot of long-term investors but it was Holdco who attracted the attention of short-term traders.
- Current +2σ divergence stayed for several days now. Considering where local short sellers are, I don’t think it will last much longer. I’d join local short-sellers. Just for a safer setup, I’d do pair trades, go long Sub and short Holdco.
2. ECM Weekly (30 March 2019) – ESR, Yunji, Ruhnn, Jinxin Fertility, Metropolis Health, Viva Biotech
Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that have been covered by Smartkarma Insight Providers recently, along with updates for upcoming IPOs.
CanSino Biologics Inc (6185 HK)‘s debut in Hong Kong this week was spectacular. It closed almost 60% above its IPO price on the first day. In Ke Yan, CFA, FRM‘s trading update note, he pointed out that valuation is trading close to fair value and that the near term driver will be the progress of the NMPA review and commercialization of MCV2. On the other hand, Koolearn (1797 HK)‘s IPO was not as fortunate. The company got listed on the same day but struggled to hold onto its IPO price even though it was oversubscribed.
For upcoming IPOs, Dongzheng Automotive Finance (2718 HK) will finally be listing next week on the 3rd of April after re-launching its IPO at a much lower fixed price of HK$3.06 per share. Sun Car Insurance(1879 HK), however, pulled its IPO even though reports mentioned that books were covered. We are also hearing that Shenwan Hongyuan Hk (218 HK) will be pre-marketing its IPO next week while CIMC Vehicle will be seeking approval soon.
India’s IPO market is starting to warm up after long lull period as Metropolis Health Services Limited (MHL IN) and Polycab India (POLY IN) are launching their IPOs next week. Sumeet Singh had already shared his thoughts on valuation for Metropolis Healthcare and his early thoughts on Polycab in:
- Metropolis Healthcare IPO – Fairly Valued, at Best
- Polycab India Limited Pre-IPO – Market Leader with Steady Growth but with a Few Unanswered Question
Meanwhile, in the U.S, Ruhnn Holding Ltd (RUHN US) launched its IPO to raise about US$125m and we heard that books have already been covered. Lyft Inc (LYFT US)‘s strong debut even after it priced above its original IPO price range should bode well would likely mean that there will be more tech unicorns looking to list in the coming few months.
In Malaysia, we also heard that Leong Hup International (LEHUP MK) will be pre-marketing next week while in Indonesia, Map Actif will open its books for US$200 – 400m IPO next week as well.
Accuracy Rate:
Our overall accuracy rate is 72.4% for IPOs and 63.9% for Placements
(Performance measurement criteria is explained at the end of the note)
New IPO filings
- Haitong UniTrust International Leasing (Hong Kong, re-filed)
Below is a snippet of our IPO tool showing upcoming events for the next week. The IPO tool is designed to provide readers with timely information on all IPO related events (Book open/closing, listing, initiation, lock-up expiry, etc) for all the deals that we have worked on. You can access the tool here or through the tools menu.
News on Upcoming IPOs
- As IPO flood recedes, Asia bankers bet on follow-on capital raising
- Bitmain forced to delay Hong Kong IPO amid crypto-mining decline
This week Analysis on Upcoming IPO
- Viva Biotech (维亚生物) IPO: Warning Signs from 2018 Numbers (Part 2)
- Metropolis Healthcare IPO – Fairly Valued, at Best
- Jinxin Fertility (锦欣生殖) Pre-IPO: Strong Foothold in Sichuan but Weak Sentiment for Sector
- Ruhnn (如涵) Pre-IPO Review- Significant Concentration Risk
- Yunji (云集) Pre-IPO Review – Poor Disclosure on Data
- ESR Cayman Pre-IPO- First Stab at Valuation
- Leong Hup Pre-IPO – Hard to Pinpoint What’s Going to Be the Revenue Driver Going Forward
- Dongzheng Auto Finance (东正汽车金融) IPO Review – Relaunched at Lower Price
- SNK Corp (950180 KS)
3. Billionaire Carl Icahn’s Run at Caesars Has yet to Move Stock. What Doesn’t the Market See?
- Carl Icahn has built his position since February 7th to where he now controls over 28% of the stock of Caesars Entertainment Corporation.
- He has already put three members on the board and will get a fourth seat if management can’t name a new CEO by April 15th.
- Icahn’s track record in casino deals has made him over $2.5bn since 1998/ Investors who joined him have made solid returns, deal after deals.
4. Japan Mobile: MVNO Data for Q3 Includes Slowest Growth Since 2014 but that Makes Sense for Rakuten
The Ministry of Industry Affairs and Communications (MIC, the regulator) released Q3 (Dec 2018) data for industry mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) subs today (29 March) characterized by continued declines in growth YoY (+15% in Q3 v 18% in Q2) and the lowest absolute net adds (+480K) since Q2 2014. Growth for the largest consumer-focused MVNO Rakuten Inc (4755 JP) also appears to be the lowest since data has become available but that is not necessarily a sign of strength for the existing network operators as it makes sense for Rakuten to slow MVNO growth before its October real network launch.
5. Havells India
As the summer sets in, we visit distributor and retailers of air conditioners in our home town Vadodara, Gujarat where temperatures soar really high in summer and air conditioning is becoming a necessity. Our checks are focused on Havells India (HAVL IN) and its’ consumer brand Llyod. Our takeaways from visits suggest celebrity endorsements unlikely to work, competition intensifying with the entry of Daikin in the mass premium segment, Ifb Industries (IFBI IN) joins the price war with its ACs, the season is off to a muted start due to prolonged winters. At current price of INR 776, risk-reward offered is not in favour for Havells investors with a medium-term horizon. Using consensus estimates and average 3 year forward PE of 41x, target price works out to be INR 807. Investors will be better off waiting for an attractive entry point.
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