Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

HK Type 4 license through Ballingal Investment Advisors Ltd. 

I'm a highly experienced sell-side analyst with in excess of 22 years of covering Asia Pacific equities, the past 19 years immersed in event strategies encompassing M&A risk arbitrage, directional long/short, stub trades and restructuring.  

My background also includes accountancy (liquidation/bankruptcy/receivership) earlier in my career and as a chief financial officer of a global commodity company based in the US and Mexico.

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

51job (JOB US)'s Offer Price Back Up To $61

51job (JOB US): Shares Pop As Financing Progresses

51job’s Privatisation: Firm Offer Is Still The Wrong Price

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

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Just plain horrible.
Following an indicative pre-market sell-off of 35%, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/51-job-inc-adr" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:532:1" rel="noopener">51 Job Inc (JOBS US)</a> closed down 19.2%, and is now 20% adrift of the undisturbed price. 
The news? As per 51job's <a href="https://ir.51job.com/ir/php/2021/PreRelease20211108.php?1108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a>:
<blockquote>
that certain members of the buyer consortium that formed Garnet Faith Limited to acquire the Company ... have been in consultation with Chinese regulators on recent regulatory changes in China that may be applicable to the Company and the Proposed Transaction. The consultation process by these buyer consortium members is currently ongoing and a clear timeline to its completion cannot be provided at this time. 
</blockquote>
</div>
"Recent regulatory changes" emerged shortly after <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/didi-chuxing-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27467:1" rel="noopener">DiDi Global (DIDI US)</a>'s listing in early July, and a broad regulatory crackdown followed, casting a net over sectors from education to technology. As quoted by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson Zhao Zhiguo back in September: "we are guiding relevant companies to carry out self-examination and rectification".
Late last month State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) proposed a list of responsibilities it wanted internet platforms to uphold. This latest edict primarily targeted large platforms (such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (9988 HK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meituan-dianping" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26970:1" rel="noopener">Meituan (3690 HK)</a>) and that they should (according to a Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-proposes-guidelines-internet-platform-responsibilities-2021-10-29/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a>) "abide by the principles of fairness when offering services and should open their services up to other platform operators. They should not obtain data without users' consent and should be transparent when using big data to recommend products."  The SAMR said these were draft guidelines that were open to public consultation until yesterday.
51job.com is the leading recruitment website/platform in China. Shares rolled over in July as the regulatory oversight on internet platforms ensnared more sectors/companies. 
Yet this latest announcement from 51job provides little new news to what was already known. Timing, admittedly, was not ideal, arriving shortly on the heels of last week's <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001295484/000110465921132333/tm2131363d1_sc13da.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> that funding for the Offer had progressed.  
The significant price correction yesterday - which could all but be construed as a dealbreak - can ostensibly be put down to short-term investors piling into 51job on the financing news, then turning tail, exiting en-masse after the perceived financing head-fake.  
Yesterday's price movement appears overdone.  The gross spread to terms is now out to 45.8%.
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More below the fold.
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Just plain horrible.
Following an indicative pre-market sell-off of 35%, 51 Job Inc (JOBS US) closed down 19.2%, and is now 20% adrift of the undisturbed price. 
The news? As per 51job's announcement:

that certain members of the buyer consortium that formed Garnet Faith Limited to acquire the Company ... have been in consultation with Chinese regulators on recent regulatory changes in China that may be applicable to the Company and the Proposed Transaction. The consultation process by these buyer consortium members is currently ongoing and a clear timeline to its completion cannot be provided at this time. 


"Recent regulatory changes" emerged shortly after DiDi Global (DIDI US)'s listing in early July, and a broad regulatory crackdown followed, casting a net over sectors from education to technology. As quoted by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson Zhao Zhiguo back in September: "we are guiding relevant companies to carry out self-examination and rectification".
Late last month State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) proposed a list of responsibilities it wanted internet platforms to uphold. This latest edict primarily targeted large platforms (such as Alibaba Group (9988 HK), Tencent (700 HK), and Meituan (3690 HK)) and that they should (according to a Reuters article) "abide by the principles of fairness when offering services and should open their services up to other platform operators. They should not obtain data without users' consent and should be transparent when using big data to recommend products."  The SAMR said these were draft guidelines that were open to public consultation until yesterday.
51job.com is the leading recruitment website/platform in China. Shares rolled over in July as the regulatory oversight on internet platforms ensnared more sectors/companies. 
Yet this latest announcement from 51job provides little new news to what was already known. Timing, admittedly, was not ideal, arriving shortly on the heels of last week's announcement that funding for the Offer had progressed.  
The significant price correction yesterday - which could all but be construed as a dealbreak - can ostensibly be put down to short-term investors piling into 51job on the financing news, then turning tail, exiting en-masse after the perceived financing head-fake.  
Yesterday's price movement appears overdone.  The gross spread to terms is now out to 45.8%.


More below the fold.


51 Job Inc Adr

51job (JOB US): That Was An Overreaction