Daily Brief TMT/Internet: Socionext, Robosense Technology, Alphawave IP Group, Telecom Italia SPA and more

• Today after the close, SoC and market darling Socionext (6526 JP) announced that DBJ, Fujitsu, and Panasonic would offer the remaining shares they in a US$1.8bn secondary offering.
• Pshaw…. that’s only 2.5 days of 20-day ADV… Not a lot. But in fact, that is a LOT of stock. 
• I harp on understanding shareholder structure. I think it worthwhile. Here it matters too.

• Three shareholders of Socionext (6526 JP) aim to raise around US$1.8bn via selling all of their shares in Socionext.
• Socionext was listed on 12th Oct 2022, when it raised US$457m in its upsized Japan IPO. Its six-month lockup expired in Apr 2023. Its shares are up 6x since listing.
• In this note, we talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.

• Socionext (6526 JP) announced a pure secondary offering of 12.6 million or 37.50% of outstanding shares. At the last close, the placement is worth JPY277 billion (US$1.9 billion)
• The selling shareholders’ primary motivation for exiting their shareholding is to capitalise on the extraordinary share price. Socionext shares are up 6x from the IPO price of JPY3,650 per share.
• We think looking at recent large Japanese placements is instructive to understand the potential offer price. The pricing date will fall between 11 to 13 July (likely 11 July).

• Robosense Technology (ROBO HK) (RT) is looking to raise around US$300m (estimated) in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO. The deal will be run by JPM and China Renaissance.
• As of Mar 23, it had earned design wins for mass production of LiDAR for 52 vehicles with 21OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, ranking No. 1 globally, according to CIC.
• As of Mar 23, it had served the largest number of automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, according to CIC.

• Today’s post will be an interview with Tony Pialis, founder and CEO of Alphawave.

• Alphawave recently got the all-clear from their KPMG auditor, and shares have been unsuspended.

• This interview is lightly edited for readability. I have some thoughts at the end as well.

Lucror Analytics’ ESG Scores are based on a 3-tiered scale and are adjusted for Controversies (if applicable).
We assess Telecom Italia’s ESG as “Adequate”, in line with its “Adequate” Social and Governance scores. While the company has a “Strong” Environmental score, this pillar has the lowest weightage in our assessment of companies in the telecom sector. Controversies are “Immaterial” and Disclosure is “Strong”.