In today’s briefing:
- [Japan Activism] – KKR and JIC Buy Out Topcon (7732 JP) At ¥3,300/Share
- Nikkei 225 Mar25 Rebal – A Big Buy With Buying Shadow, A Bigger Sell, And $2bn of Funding Flows
- Weekly Deals Digest (30 Mar) – Seven & I, Topcon, ENN Energy, Jinke Smart, Sinarmas Land, Gold Road
- Nikkei Index Options Weekly (Mar 24 – 28): Weak Finish Despite USD/JPY Strength
- J Front Diversifies to Generate More Income
[Japan Activism] – KKR and JIC Buy Out Topcon (7732 JP) At ¥3,300/Share
- The difference between an LBO (Leveraged Buy Out) and an MBO (Management Buy Out) is that an MBO is usually just an LBO where the buyers don’t replace the CEO.
- After 4+mos of speculation/noise since a Bloomberg article said Topcon was weighing takeover bids, we have a deal. KKR and JIC will buy out Topcon in an “MBO” at ¥3,300/share.
- Unusually, the lower limit is 50.1%. This is an OK exit for the “Bad Cops” but not a great one. It should be higher. Start delayed for 4 months.
Nikkei 225 Mar25 Rebal – A Big Buy With Buying Shadow, A Bigger Sell, And $2bn of Funding Flows
- The Nikkei 225 March 2025 rebalance is today. The ADD is big, with more to buy later. The SELL is a really big sell in terms of float.
- The Sell, Mitsubishi Logistics (9301 JP), means Max Real World Float doubles. It’s like a huge offering, with warning.
- There’s a big cap trade on Fast Retailing (9983 JP) where timing is not on its side, leaving US$2bn to buy in funding. 25 names at 0.4x ADV to buy.
Weekly Deals Digest (30 Mar) – Seven & I, Topcon, ENN Energy, Jinke Smart, Sinarmas Land, Gold Road
- 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: DN Solutions (298440 KS) seeks to raise US$1.1 billion in a KRX IPO.
- Event-Driven developments: Seven & I Holdings (3382 JP), Topcon Corp (7732 JP), ENN Energy (2688 HK), Jinke Smart Services (9666 HK), Sinarmas Land (SML SP), Gold Road Resources (GOR AU).
Nikkei Index Options Weekly (Mar 24 – 28): Weak Finish Despite USD/JPY Strength
- A weekly recap of volatility and price metrics, covering option volumes, volatility trends, the spot/implied relationship, and open interest statistics.
- USD/JPY and Nikkei moved in opposite directions, with the index underperforming its historical relationship to FX.
- Options volume increased throughout the week, peaking on Friday’s move lower.
J Front Diversifies to Generate More Income
- J Front has been pushing ahead with new ways to get younger (and richer) customers into its stores.
- It recently opened a high end art floor at Matsuzakaya Nagoya, continues to expand its fashion subscription business, and will shortly open the first joint store with Komehyo.
- It is also investing heavily in real estate in key cities as a third major platform to its business.
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