Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Shifara Samsudeen, ACMA, CGMA

A chartered management accountant with more than 10 years of rich experience in investment research and financial analysis. Worked as an equity analyst for one of the world's largest asset managers with USD2.5trn in AUM covering numerous sectors including chemicals, retail, tech, autos, telco, real-estate and banks, globally. Experienced in fundamental equity research, industry research, commodity studies, forensic accounting, and due diligence reviews.

Equity Analyst

MicroPort MedBot IPO: Strong Suite of Surgical Robots Covering Fast-Growing Surgical Specialties

Novotech Health IPO: Forecasts, Peer Comparison and Thoughts on Valuation

JOYY Inc Privatisation: Our Thoughts on Valuation

Baidu Secondary Listing: At the Crossroads

Baidu Secondary: SOTP Offers Decent Upside with Conservative Assumptions

Battle Lines Drawn As BABA Builds Out First/Last-Mile Capacity; But Who Will Fund 75+ Bn CNY CapEx?

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

Event-Driven

It was reported by Reuters and several other news media outlets on Friday (24th Friday) that <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a>’s acquisition of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/joyy-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:285:1" rel="noopener">JOYY (YY US)'s </a> domestic video-based entertainment livestreaming business (known as YY Live) is unlikely to be approved by the country’s antitrust regulators. According to news media, Baidu’s acquisition of JOYY was included among the 11 transactions that were subject to anti-monopoly review by the state Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the company has not yet received any negative update from the regulators on the deal.The government of China’s latest measures to crackdown on the country’s tech sector are focused on the gaming sector to reduce the long-term impact of gaming on the country’s younger population (those under 18 years of age). Given YY Live’s livestreaming business includes video-games related entertainment livestreaming, it appears unlikely that the deal will be approved as it will send the wrong signal to the market.In August, several news media outlets including Reuters reported that JOYY’s top two shareholders: David Li - Chairman and Lei Jun – founder of Xiaomi, plan to take the Nasdaq-listed company private. David Li and Lei Jun respectively owned 23.2% and 7.8% of JOYY with David Li having 76% of voting power (read our previous insight on JOYY's take-private deal: <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/joyy-inc-privatisation-our-thoughts-on-valuation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:56917" rel="noopener">JOYY Inc Privatisation: Our Thoughts on Valuation</a> )

It was reported by Reuters and several other news media outlets on Friday (24th Friday) that Baidu (BIDU US)’s acquisition of JOYY (YY US)'s  domestic video-based entertainment livestreaming business (known as YY Live) is unlikely to be approved by the country’s antitrust regulators. According to news media, Baidu’s acquisition of JOYY was included among the 11 transactions that were subject to anti-monopoly review by the state Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the company has not yet received any negative update from the regulators on the deal.The government of China’s latest measures to crackdown on the country’s tech sector are focused on the gaming sector to reduce the long-term impact of gaming on the country’s younger population (those under 18 years of age). Given YY Live’s livestreaming business includes video-games related entertainment livestreaming, it appears unlikely that the deal will be approved as it will send the wrong signal to the market.In August, several news media outlets including Reuters reported that JOYY’s top two shareholders: David Li - Chairman and Lei Jun – founder of Xiaomi, plan to take the Nasdaq-listed company private. David Li and Lei Jun respectively owned 23.2% and 7.8% of JOYY with David Li having 76% of voting power (read our previous insight on JOYY's take-private deal: JOYY Inc Privatisation: Our Thoughts on Valuation )

Baidu-JOYY: Blocking YY Live Acquisition Is More Problematic for JOYY