In today’s briefing:
- Japan Activism: Japan Catalyst Fund Calls Out Taisho Pharma Committee on MBO Price
- Mischief Managed! Iwatani Corp (8088) Buys Out Murakami-San’s Cosmo Energy Stake
- Last Week in Event SPACE: Denso, Sapporo, Hollysys, PCCW, Origin Energy
- 3Q Follow-Up – D. Western Therapeutics Institute (DWTI) (4576 JP)
- Weekly Deals Digest (03 Dec) – Denso, T&K Toka, CIMC Vehicles, Origin, OreCorp, Hollysys, BPLANT
- ECM Weekly (3rd Dec 2023) – Denso, Toyota, Zensho, Asahi, Kotak, Zomato, Zeekr, Tatatech, IREDA
Japan Activism: Japan Catalyst Fund Calls Out Taisho Pharma Committee on MBO Price
- Japan Catalyst Fund is a relatively young effort in the Japan “engagement activism” space, having been founded by Monex Group in September 2019. Total assets remain apparently small.
- Championed by Monex Group founder Oki Matsumoto, despite small AUM, the fund has decent access. As of end-October, Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings (4581 JP) was #5 and 5.26%. Now it’s #2.
- Friday, they released a statement about the MBO. It isn’t a barn-burner, but the stock has traded through terms since announcement at a too-low price. And nobody else has commented.
Mischief Managed! Iwatani Corp (8088) Buys Out Murakami-San’s Cosmo Energy Stake
- The question of how Murakami-san would get out of his stake in Cosmo Energy Holdings (5021 JP) was always a biggie. He likes to sell stock in tender offer buybacks.
- Cosmo wasn’t going to do that for him. They promised dividends and a high payout ratio, but that left the question was how he was going to get out.
- A semi-obvious solution was to find a corporate partner to buy his stake and today, Iwatani Corp (8088 JP) announced that it had bought 19.86% of Murakami-san’s 20.01% holding.
Last Week in Event SPACE: Denso, Sapporo, Hollysys, PCCW, Origin Energy
- A holistic view of the three different documents here suggests the Denso Corp (6902 JP) buyback, indeed, “It was a trap”.
- 3D Investment Partners raised its stake in Sapporo Holdings (2501 JP), suggesting the activist investor is optimistic about successfully advancing their proposals.
- A firm merger proposal is expected for Hollysys Automation Technologies (HOLI US) in the next couple of weeks. Time to buy.
3Q Follow-Up – D. Western Therapeutics Institute (DWTI) (4576 JP)
- Major milestones with high expectations coming in the next 2-3 years: 1) Phase IIb US trials for H-1337 as “first choice as a second-line Glaucoma drug” for patients who do not respond to PGs
- 2) 2023 application, 2024 approval and 2025 launch of DW-1002 in Japan, 2023 application/approval/launch in China, as well as expedited development of combination formula MembraneBlue-DualR (DW-1002 + trypan blue) in the US [NEW]
- 3) clinical trials in 2024 in Japan and application for approval in 2025 of regenerative cell medicine DWR-2206
Weekly Deals Digest (03 Dec) – Denso, T&K Toka, CIMC Vehicles, Origin, OreCorp, Hollysys, BPLANT
- A weekly summary of key developments across ECM and Event-Driven names tracked by us across Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, India and Chinese ADRs.
- ECM developments – Denso Corp (6902 JP)‘s US$4.0 Billion Secondary Offering and US$1.4 Billion Buyback.
- Event-Driven developments – CIMC Vehicle Group Co Ltd (1839 HK), Origin Energy (ORG AU), Orecorp Ltd (ORR AU), Hollysys Automation Technologies (HOLI US), Boustead Plantations (BPLANT MK).
ECM Weekly (3rd Dec 2023) – Denso, Toyota, Zensho, Asahi, Kotak, Zomato, Zeekr, Tatatech, IREDA
- Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.
- In the IPO space, Tata Technologies and IREDA continued the India IPO juggernaut.
- On the placements front, there seems to be no stopping Japan flows.
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