ECM Weekly (12th September 2021) - Sea, Simplex, PHC Holdings, Kakaopay, Novotech, Airdoc, K Car

Events next week:

We kicked off the publication of tearsheets to keep investors apprised of the basic information of new IPO filings. The effort will be led by our new analyst, Clarence Chu , who joined us this month. Feel free to drop us a message if there are any things that you would like to be included in the tearsheet.

• Airpower Technologies Pre-IPO Tearsheet
• Jinmao Property Development Pre-IPO Tearsheet

MREIT and Simplex launched their IPOs this week. The former raised US$272m at the bottom end of its IPO price range after books closed on Thursday while the latter’s shareholders will be selling US$304m worth of shares. Simplex’s books closed on Friday and it was simply reported that books were covered. MREIT and Simplex will debut on 30th and 22nd September, respectively.

• Simplex Holdings IPO - Valuation Looks Ok, past Performance Will Weigh on Sentiment
• MREIT IPO - Needs to Be Priced a Whole Lot Lower

Similarly, K Car will open books on Friday and look to debut on 13th October. We covered peer comparison and valuation in this week's note.

• K Car IPO - Peer Comparison and Valuation

On the other hand, Kakaopay’s IPO hit a bump when FSC and FSS put out a press release stating that online financial platforms, namely Naver Pay and Kakao Pay, aren’t acting as simple advertising agencies and have violated regulations. We discussed the likely impact on the company and our expectations heading into bookbuild which was stipulated to open on 23rd September.

• Kakao Pay IPO - Peer Comparison - Local and International
• Kakao Pay IPO - Valuation and Likely Impact of Latest Announcement

In Japan, Phc Holdings (6523 JP) is looking to raise about US$1.6bn from selling a mix of primary and secondary shares. The company is backed by KKR, Mistui, Life Science Institute, and Panasonic.

• PHC Holdings Pre-IPO - Many Companies Rolled into One

Back in Hong Kong, Helen’s closed 23% above its IPO price on debut, exceeding our expectations. We also revisited Novotech’s IPO as the company will likely launch its books soon, following its approval from HKEX.

• Novotech Pre-IPO: PHIP and Valuation Update

• Helens Intl (海伦司国际) IPO Trading - Decent Demand but Still Some Way to Go to Our Preferred Buy Level

We initiated on Beijing Airdoc, an AI-based medical device company with a focus on AI-empowered retina-based early detection, diagnosis and health risk assessment solutions. The company was earlier reported to be seeking approval this month.

• Beijing Airdoc (北京鹰瞳科技) Pre-IPO - A Niche Field with Merits but Can It Sell?

Last, but not least, it was a fairly active week in the placement space. Sea Ltd tested limits with its jumbo US$6bn equity combo. The deal was priced at a decent 7.3% discount from undisturbed price and it was reported to have drawn strong demand from investors.

• SEA Ltd Placement -Momentum Is Very Strong but Last Deal Didn’t Do Well and It Doesn’t Need the Cash

• Orient Overseas Placement - Fourth Deal This Year. Is the Largest and at the Tightest Discount.

• CIMB Group Placement - Has Sold Before, past Deals Did Just About Ok