Most Read: Aag Energy Holdings, SBI Shinsei Bank, ARTERIA Networks Corp, Ecopro Co Ltd, Toshiba Corp, Amorepacific Group, Ushio Inc, Horizon Construction Development, St Barbara Ltd and more

• A year ago, SBI Shinsei Bank (8303 JP)‘s new MTMP was to get from ¥35bn profit in FY22 to ¥70bn in FY24 including ¥55bn of organic profit, ¥15bn of synergies.
• On Friday, SBI Shinsei announced FY22 would be ¥42bn instead of ¥35bn, despite higher interest rates. More aggressive lending and gains in subs were credited. 
• The MTMP calls for ¥70bn Profit in Mar-25 – ¥341 EPS so Friday’s close x 7.1x. The big picture takeout scenario remains intact and Real World Float is still small. 

• AAG Energy Holdings (2686 HK) is one of those periodic (and rare) takeover situations that will likely be remembered for what went wrong rather than what went right.  
• A low-balled Offer (proxy advisors agree); perfunctory IFA analysis; a large, and silent, shareholder; and the postponement of the Scheme vote due to voting instructions not being “duly processed”.
• A new Court Meeting has been confirmed for the 2 June. And now we have some odd CCASS movements which raise further questions.

In this upcoming flash webinar, Insight Provider Travis Lundy will discuss the recent privatisation offer from SBI Holdings (8473 JP) for SBI Shinsei Bank (8303 JP). Japan’s SBI Holdings Inc said last Friday that it would take SBI Shinsei Bank private by launching a 154.2 billion yen (US$1.14 billion) tender offer, at 2,800 yen per share. Travis will go over the background and opportunities ahead of Monday’s Japan trading hours.

The Webinar will be hosted on Monday, 15 May 2023, 07:30 SGT.

Travis Lundy has 20+ years of experience in Asia doing alternative strategies (i.e. non-delta1 non long-only) in fixed income, equity derivatives, and activist/catalyst/event-driven and long-short equity strategies, with most of that time spent managing money.

• Marubeni (8002 JP) and Secom (9735 JP) today announced a Tender Offer to take private Marubeni’s subsidiary ARTERIA Networks Corp (4423 JP) at a 54% premium to the close. 
• Listed 4.5yrs ago, the company hasn’t grown hugely. Revenue growth is slow. EBITDA growth is flat. The takeout is 3.6x book, 7x estimated EBITDA, and about mid-teens PER. Without synergies.
• The price is OK, not great. The Board rejected the final price because it was too low and didn’t include synergies, then accepted because the bidders wouldn’t go further? Hmmm…

• The severity of yesterday’s ruling has caught the market’s attention as it may provide insight into an ongoing investigation into insider trading based on undisclosed internal information.
• This matter is not limited to the operational risk caused by the imprisonment of Lee Dong-chae. There is a possibility that it could lead to delisting, depending on the circumstances.
• The substantial legal risk that could lead to delisting will further amplify price volatility. Adopting a more segmented approach appears crucial, like specific setups in each tighter interval.

• We believe Toshiba guidance could be meaningfully lower than consensus estimates project. 
• While we expect some conservatism across industrial segments this could easily be offset by prolonged stagnation on the tech side. 
• Given concerning signs for NAND we believe weak guidance could shake confidence in deal funding.

• AmoreG has been closely moving relative to Amorepacific Corp (090430 KS) over the past few months, but starting from mid-April, it rapidly entered a downward diversion phase.
• It appears to have experienced greater sensitivity towards the recent tensions in Sino-Korean relations, possibly due to its higher price correlation with the Chinese market.
• The issue lies in the timing of entry aimed at reversion, and there may be one upcoming passive inflow event that we should pay attention to in this regard.

• Ushio Inc (6925 JP) reported earnings on 11 May, with revenue +17.6% on the year, OP +21.4%, and NP +8.7% on the year. Div was unchanged at ¥50/share.
• Forecasts are for revenue +7.4%, OP -21.2%, and NP -27% (¥90.6/EPS). But importantly, the company also announced a HUUUUUGE Buyback. 
• Buying ≦20mm shares (17.0%) spending ≦¥30bn from 29May2023 to 10May2024. That’s 13.3% at the 12 May close. How this will work is unknown. There’s less detail than one would want.

• Horizon Construction Development (1887128D HK)/HCD, a subsidiary of Far East Horizon (3360 HK), has launched its HKEx listing at HK$4.52-4.80 per share to raise up to US$223 million.
• We previously discussed the IPO in Horizon Construction Development IPO: The Bull Case and Horizon Construction Development IPO: The Bear Case. 
• Our valuation analysis suggests that HCD is fully priced at the IPO price range. Therefore, we are inclined to pass on the IPO. 

• After abandoning its reverse merger, St Barbara (SBM AU) confirmed it will sell its flagship Leonora gold project to Genesis Minerals (GMD AU) for $600mn (cash and GMD scrip).
• That transaction appeared all stitched up, until Silver Lake Resources (SLR AU) gatecrashed the party with a non-binding proposal for the Leonara asset. SBM’s board rejected the competing proposal. 
• SLR has now tweaked terms to address SBM concerns. Back in SBM’s court. GMD has matching rights if SBM sides with SLR.