In this briefing:
- Nidec (6594 JP): Big Downward Revision
- Global Indexes Approaching Major Resistance
- Hitachi Tender for Yungtay Engineering Launches
- Softbank – A Sizeable and Tactical Tender?
- Onward Quits Zozo: Another Dent in Zozo’s Reputation
1. Nidec (6594 JP): Big Downward Revision
Nidec has cut FY Mar-19 sales guidance by 9.4%, operating profit guidance by 25.6% and net profit guidance by 23.8% to reflect what management calls unexpectedly weak demand, the need for large inventory adjustments, and anticipated restructuring charges.
Management attributes this to U.S. – China trade friction, but weak demand for hard disc drives (HDDs) caused by excessive date center investment and falling NAND flash memory prices, and declining auto sales in both China and the U.S., appear to have compounded the problem.
Nidec’s share price was up ¥60 (+0.49%) today to ¥12,395, but the announcement was made after the market closed. Management plans to discuss the situation at a press conference starting at 18:30 Tokyo time today.
2. Global Indexes Approaching Major Resistance
Broad global indexes are bumping up against logical downtrend resistance. As a result, our outlook remains cautious and our baseline expectation for continued downward pressure on global equities remains intact. At the same time, we are seeing signs that the worst of the declines may be behind us as global cyclical Sectors show RS improvements while defensive Sectors display early signs of RS deterioration. In this report we review important technical levels for developed and EM indexes, and highlight a number of attractive opportunities across markets and sectors.
3. Hitachi Tender for Yungtay Engineering Launches
Hitachi Ltd (6501 JP)announced today after the close that it had received approvals from the relevant government organs for its proposed Tender Offer for Yungtay Engineering (1507 TT) and that the Tender Offer would be launched through Hitachi Elevator Taiwan Co. Ltd at TWD 60/share starting tomorrow. The statement filed by Yungtay on the TWSE website is linked here.
The Tender Offer will go through March 7th 2019 with the target of reaching 100% ownership. Son of the founder, former CEO, and Honorary Chairman Hsu Tso-Li (Chou-Li) of Yungtay has agreed to tender his 4.27% holding. The main difference is a minimum threshold for success of reaching just over one-third of the shares outstanding, with a minimum to buy of 88,504,328 shares (21.66%, including the 4.27% to be tendered by Hsu Tso-Li).
This one detail is different from the original announcement in October, which had set a minimum of 50.1% holding after the tender.
The other details of the Tender Offer are the same as described in Going Up! Hitachi Tender for Yungtay Engineering (1507 TT) from when the deal was announced last October.
Since the announcement of a deal at a 22% premium, the stock has risen gently from about TWD 56 to just below the TWD 60 Tender Offer price in ever-decreasing volume.
There has been little to no news on the stock regarding the deal in English, and only limited news in Chinese since the announcement of the deal.
The price evolution makes it look like a pretty straightforward deal. The lowered threshold for success obviously increases the likelihood of success. Weaker markets may also contribute.
But there is a reason why the threshold was lowered.
4. Softbank – A Sizeable and Tactical Tender?
Post the close of market, Softbank Group (9984 JP) announced a $750mn USD tender offer through an unmodified Dutch auction to purchase a portion of its outstanding USD and EUR senior notes. This could be an interesting deal from a timing perspective and could portend action for the equity – more details below.
5. Onward Quits Zozo: Another Dent in Zozo’s Reputation
ZOZO (3092 JP) has been hit from all sides recently, with a major sell-off by investors disturbed by Zozo’s execution of its private brand launch and the resulting impact on the company’s reputation among merchants and consumers alike.
Last month it launched a new campaign which, on the surface, was all about helping customers give back to society, but which drew an immediate negative response from some merchants.
One of these, Onward Holdings, withdrew all its brands from sale on Zozo. This is another damaging dent in Zozo’s reputation.
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