In today’s briefing:
- Kokusai Elec (6525) – The Much-Anticipated Lockup Expiry
- Idemitsu (5019): First SumiChem’s, Now JERA’s Stake in Fuji Oil (5017) To Go to 22%. It’s Coming…
- Nidec (6594) | Liquid Cooling Overheats Stock
- Nitori: One of the Best Bets in Japan Consumer Markets
- Comment on Exchange Rate – USD/JPY – March 29, 2024
- JTEC Corp (3446) – Embarking on a Multi-Year Runway of Growth with Technological Advantage
Kokusai Elec (6525) – The Much-Anticipated Lockup Expiry
- Last autumn, Kokusai Electric (6525 JP) was IPOed by KKR. The lockup expires next week, on 21 April 2024 (a Sunday). That frees up about 70% of the stock.
- KKR’s own stake is worth about US$2.8bn. It is not clear that Applied Materials, Qatar, or the Koch Strategic Platforms stakes would be for sale (now, or near-term).
- There is an interesting schedule of events between here and a likely offering date. It pays to pay attention to the details.
Idemitsu (5019): First SumiChem’s, Now JERA’s Stake in Fuji Oil (5017) To Go to 22%. It’s Coming…
- In the mid-late teens, four refinery groups merged to create two refinery groups – JX and Tonen General became JXTG under ENEOS Holdings (5020 JP) and Idemitsu took over ShowaShell.
- When Idemitsu got ShowaShell, it got 50+% in Toa Oil Co Ltd (5008 JP), 6.58% of Fuji Oil Co Ltd (5017 JP). In 2020, they tried to buy in Toa.
- That was delayed by an activist. Today, Idemitsu announced they had gone to 23% in Fuji Oil. That stake will go up before it goes down.
Nidec (6594) | Liquid Cooling Overheats Stock
- Nidec’s share price rose by 7% on the largest volume day of the year and on a day where the Nikkei declined by 2%.
- The move followed an announcement that Nidec will enhance its CDUs production line in Thailand by 10x by June 2024. CDUs are used to cool AI servers in data centres
- The market impact of 250 billion yen implies a sales impact of 69 billion yen, which is far too high for 24,000 units per year
Nitori: One of the Best Bets in Japan Consumer Markets
- Leading furniture retailer Nitori recently announced it would work with French platform developer Mirakl to build an online marketplace. The site will be available late 2024 or early 2025.
- Nitori wants the mall to contribute 20% of revenues by 2032 within a sales target of ¥3 trillion, when overseas store numbers are expected to be double those in Japan.
- But, founder Akio Nitori says he wants to see overseas sales much higher than official targets and may well get there through close targeting of the rising Asian middle class.
Comment on Exchange Rate – USD/JPY – March 29, 2024
- During the period under consideration, i.e. February 28th 2024 to March 29th, 2024, the USD/JPY pair fluctuated between 146 and 152 Yen per 1 Dollar.
- The MA-10 line at the beginning of the period considered was moving above the MA-20 line.
- From March 7th until March 22nd the MA-10 line trend changed and was moving below the MA-20.
JTEC Corp (3446) – Embarking on a Multi-Year Runway of Growth with Technological Advantage
- JTEC Corp is a specialist technology innovator, and a global market leader in customized X-ray mirrors used in synchrotron radiation and X-ray free-electron laser facilities worldwide.
- With its competitive advantage in technology through high R&D spending and strong partnerships with academic and research institutions, the company is switching back to a robust growth trajectory driven by 1) normalized business conditions post- COVID-19,
- 2) new construction and upgrade demand for synchrotron radiation facilities, particularly from China, and 3) business expansion in the life sciences and semiconductor sectors.
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