Daily Brief Energy/Materials: Taiwan Cement, EcoPro Materials, Nickel Asia, Vedanta Resources, Longboat Energy, Marco Polo Marine and more

• Taiwan Cement (1101 TT) is looking to raise US$400m in its upcoming global depository receipts (GDRs) offering. Included is another planned raising of US$500m via convertible bonds.
• Similar to previous GDR listings, the deal is a long drawn out process with TC requiring multiple approvals, and thus providing ample time for investors to position for the raising. 
• As of last close, the amount of shares to be offered under the equity component is around 388m shares, or 19.5 days of three month ADV. 

• Ecopro Materials will benefit from passive flows generated by being a part of the battery-themed ETFs in the Korean local ETF market. And this will create noteworthy flow instances.
• There will be a total of six flow events occurring consecutively from March to June next year. For all except for K-New Deal, there is a high likelihood of inclusion
• In particular, it appears that we should target the rebalancing trading of the TIGER Secondary Cell ETF, which occurs on the second Thursday of April next year.

• EcoPro Materials (ECO123 KS) is looking to raise up to US$500m in its Korean IPO. 
• Ecopro Materials (EPM) manufactures and sells high-nickel precursors, one of the key materials for high-nickel cathode materials for secondary (rechargeable) batteries. 
• Ecopro Materials’ revenue has grown by more than three times over the track record period.  However, its parent company Ecopro and sister company Ecopro BM have been mired in controversy.

• In a surprise development, UnionBank of the Philippines (UBP PM) will be deleted from the Philippines Stock Exchange PSEi Index (PCOMP INDEX) and replaced with Nickel Asia (NIKL PM). 
• There will be a BIG impact on both stocks as a result of the change with passive trackers need to trade in excess of 30 days ADV.
• Expect both stocks to move today and then continue that move for the next few days till the changes are implemented.

Lucror Analytics Morning Views comprise our fundamental credit analysis, opinions and trade recommendations on high yield issuers in the region, based on key company-specific developments in the past 24 hours. Our Morning Views include a section with a brief market commentary, key market indicators and a macroeconomic and corporate event calendar.

• Vedanta Resources

• Taking into account the investment by JAPEX to secure 49.9% of Longboat Norge, Longboat plc holds £10.9 mm in cash.
• This includes £5.3 mm representing Longboat’s share of the cash in Longboat Norge (50.1% of £10.6 mm).
• Overall, we forecast that Longboat plc will hold ~£4 mm in cash at YE23.

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