This weekly newsletter pulls together summaries of the top ten most-read Insights across Event-Driven and Index Rebalance on Smartkarma.
Receive this weekly newsletter keeping 45k+ investors in the loop
1. Pasona (2168 JP) Special Div – Too Small to Matter
- On Friday, Pasona Group (2168 JP) announced its expected use of funds into the May 2024 results, including a special dividend plan, investment for growth, and “strengthening the operating platform.”
- The plan will disappoint. The stock may get hit hard. The truth is somewhere in the middle. This is where active stewardship matters. So get stewarding.
- A special div paid over 5yrs should be paid one-shot, now. If the company has plans worth supporting, set KPIs now, ask for money later. Good plans get good money.
2. Shinko Electric (6967) – Break/Gap Risk Update
- When this deal was announced, it was light. But the timing, JSR influence, large-ish float, ensured FUD would make this trade wide. It traded wider.
- 12wks ago, Shinko had much-underperformed peer Ibiden, meaning downside gap risk from undisturbed was negative as spreads were wide. I reco’d a buy. Then 5wks ago, reco’d trimming.
- Shinko had outperformed Ibiden, and gross spreads had come in 5+% on JSR’s approval. Spreads are now 3% wider than their narrowest, but gap risk has widened as Shinko outperforms.
3. Kokusai Electric IPO Lock-Up – KKR Will Be Tempted by the US$2.7bn Release but Might Have to Wait
- KKR raised around US$730m via selling some stake in Kokusai Electric (6525 JP) Japan IPO in Sep 2023. Its remaining stake will be released from its IPO linked lockup soon.
- KE main business activities consist of the manufacturing, sales and maintenance service of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
- In this note, we talk about the upcoming lock-up expiry and possible deal dynamics.
4. JSR (4185) – Deal Done, Now Back End Arbs Need To Be Card Counters
- Today after the close, the results of the JSR Corp (4185 JP) Tender Offer were announced. Bidco JICC-02 obtained 84.36% of the shares out in the Tender Offer.
- That means imminent index downweights, delayed index downweights, and theoretically another selldown on the last day of listed existence.
- News which came up since the start of the Tender Offer make this a little more difficult than it might have otherwise been.
5. Idemitsu (5019): First SumiChem’s, Now JERA’s Stake in Fuji Oil (5017) To Go to 22%. It’s Coming…
- In the mid-late teens, four refinery groups merged to create two refinery groups – JX and Tonen General became JXTG under ENEOS Holdings (5020 JP) and Idemitsu took over ShowaShell.
- When Idemitsu got ShowaShell, it got 50+% in Toa Oil Co Ltd (5008 JP), 6.58% of Fuji Oil Co Ltd (5017 JP). In 2020, they tried to buy in Toa.
- That was delayed by an activist. Today, Idemitsu announced they had gone to 23% in Fuji Oil. That stake will go up before it goes down.
6. Hang Lung Group: Thoughts On HLP’s Scrip Dividend
- And eagle-eyed reader spotted Hang Lung Properties (101 HK)‘s scrip dividend option for the FY23 final dividend. That’s the first time I’ve seen HLP provide this alternative.
- Over the years, the Chan family and Hang Lung (10 HK) have chipped away at HLG’s and HLP’s minorities. HLP and HLG are currently trading at all-time low P/Bs.
- This scrip dividend, which takes a page out of Jardine Matheson (JM SP)‘s playbook, would boost HLG’s stake in HLP to ~63% from 61.24% currently; if opting only for scrip.
7. ChiNext/ChiNext50 Index Rebalance Preview: Plenty of Overlap Between the Indices
- Nearing the end of the review period, we forecast 8 changes for the ChiNext Index (SZ399006 INDEX) and 5 changes for the ChiNext 50 Index in June.
- There are overlapping names for the two indices and some of the stocks will also have flows from the CSI Smallcap 500 Index – Shang (SH000905 INDEX) trackers.
- The potential adds have outperformed the potential deletes between 9-10% for both indices over the last month with the deletes dropping a lot more than the adds.
8. Hollysys (HOLI US): Keep Calm as Closing Date Slips
- On 15 April, Hollysys Automation Technologies (HOLI US) issued a 6-K filing stating that Ascendent remains in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals.
- The gross spread has widened to 8% as the closing date has slipped from the end of March guidance, and an updated timeline is lacking.
- A delay in securing regulatory approvals is not uncommon. However, regulatory approvals should be forthcoming as the transaction involves Chinese entities (including a SASAC entity) acquiring a Chinese-focused company.
9. Shinko Electric (6967 JP): Widening Spread Is an Opportunity
- Shinko Electric Industries (6967 JP)‘s pre-conditional tender offer from the JIC alliance is JPY5,920 per share. The gross spread widened from a low of 3.1% on 14 March to 7.0%.
- The widening spread can be attributed to China SAMR approval timing, earnings risk, Ibiden Co Ltd (4062 JP)’s material underperformance lowering the break price and a large fund liquidating positions.
- The deal break risks remain low with the timing remaining the key risk. The current 7.0% spread is an attractive opportunity to add.
10. J&T Global Express IPO Lock-Up Expiry – Tiny Float with 87%+ Stake Lockup Release Worth >US$8.8bn
- J&T Global Express, a global logistics provider, raised about US$500m in its Hong Kong IPO in Oct 2023. Its pre-IPO investors will be released from its IPO linked lockup soon.
- As per Frost & Sullivan (F&S), the firm is the leading express delivery business in Southeast Asia, with a 25.4% market share as per 2023 parcel volume.
- In this note, we talk about the upcoming lock-up expiry and possible deal dynamics.
