In today’s briefing:
- Nexon – Founder Kim Jung-Ju Passes, Raises Question if Nexon Deal Is Back In Play
- Carousell Tearsheet – Singapore’s Resale Unicorn
- Quick Post: Russia’s Capital Outflow into Crypto
- Japan Cybersecurity: Frequent and Sophisticated Cyber-Attacks Drive Demand
- The Passing of Nexon Founder KJJ & Controlling Stake Sale Event 2.0
- Horizon Robotics – Riding on Partnerships and a Strong List of Backers
- Money Forward (3994): Announced Upward Revision of 1Q Guidance
- Investor meet reinforces strong demand visibility
Nexon – Founder Kim Jung-Ju Passes, Raises Question if Nexon Deal Is Back In Play
- The founder and former chairman and CEO of Nexon (3659 JP) passed away according to both Nexon and his holding company NXC. Both announced it late afternoon 1 March.
- NXC – the near-parent (47+% stake) of Nexon tried to sell Nexon/NXC in H1 2019 to no avail. Since then, profits have rebounded somewhat, and investments have multiplied.
- The estate may wish to sell Nexon shares, or its entire stake, at some point near-term.
Carousell Tearsheet – Singapore’s Resale Unicorn
- Carousell is a Singapore based platform serving the C2C and B2C marketplace for purchase and resale of second hand goods.
- In its latest funding round in Sept 2021, the company raised US$100m at a valuation of US$1.1bn. As per Crunchbase, Carousell has raised just over US$280m since inception.
- Carousell is expected to list in the US via a SPAC Merger with L Catterton Asia Acquisition.
Quick Post: Russia’s Capital Outflow into Crypto
- The Ruble has collapsed due to sanctions placed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine
- Onchain metrics signals sizable assets moving from Russia into crypto to potentially avoid sanctions or to salvage Ruble denominated assets
- BTC/RUBLE is now up significantly since the war has started
Japan Cybersecurity: Frequent and Sophisticated Cyber-Attacks Drive Demand
- The demand for cybersecurity products and services has been expanding in Japan amidst an increase in frequent and sophisticated cyber-attacks in the country.
- Due to shortage of in-house IT professionals with knowledge on cyber security, there has been growing demand for outsourced managed security services in Japan.
- We have identified Trend Micro Inc (4704 JP) as our top pick in the Japanese cyber security market as there is further potential for top line and margins to expand.
The Passing of Nexon Founder KJJ & Controlling Stake Sale Event 2.0
- We should pay the most attention to what choices and decisions the bereaved family will make concerning the stakes and management rights of the deceased in NXC.
- This opens the possibility that the KJJ’s stake sale event in 2019 will happen again in the foreseeable future.
- Under these circumstances, there is a possibility that short-term momentum trading aimed at tender offers to minority shareholders following the sale of Nexon’s major shareholder stake will surge.
Horizon Robotics – Riding on Partnerships and a Strong List of Backers
- Horizon Robotics is an artificial intelligence chips developer for automobiles, specifically smart vehicles, and robots.
- Its latest Series C funding round in late 2020-early 2021, raised a combined total of US$900m, led by Great Wall Motors, Hillhouse, Baillie Gifford, CATL, CPE, Yunfeng Capital and others.
- There were news reports doing the rounds that the firm had aimed to look at a potential US listing, in a deal that could raise up to US$1bn.
Money Forward (3994): Announced Upward Revision of 1Q Guidance
Upward revision of sales and profit guidance. A mix of good and bad news
The company raised its sales guidance by 350m yen and raised its EBITDA and OP guidance by 800m yen.
The upward revision of sales guidance is due to 1) higher recurring and non-recurring revenue in the Business domain and 2) higher non-recurring revenue in the Finance domain
Investor meet reinforces strong demand visibility
- We attended MTCL’s annual investor meet, where the management reiterated its strong demand outlook and detailed the six strategic levers for FY23. It sees scope for continued performance in their 4x4x4 strategy and investments required to boost long-term.
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