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

Jardine Matheson: Value Gradually Emerging Four Months On

Jardine Matheson's (JM SP) Turn To Buy Back Shares

Jardine Matheson: Collapsing The Circularity

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

As discussed in <a href="https://skr.ma/yN7Jw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jardine Matheson: Strategic Buyout Done</a>, after <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jardine-strategic-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15081:1" rel="noopener">Jardine Strategic Holdings (JS SP)</a> shareholders <a href="https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/JSH.ashx?App=Announcement&amp;FileID=659247" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted through</a>, as expected, the Offer from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jardine-matheson-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19718:1" rel="noopener">Jardine Matheson Holdings (JM SP)</a>, after the vote, Matheson said a number of shareholders in Strategic voted against the acquisition, but also that:
<div>
<blockquote>
a large number of shares voted against the resolution were held by investors who were not shareholders at the time of the announcement of the Acquisition on 8 March 2021. Some investors have indicated an intention to apply to the Court in Bermuda to appraise the fair value of their shares, in accordance with the process described in the shareholder circular issued by Jardine Strategic in connection with the Acquisition.
</blockquote>
</div>
I initially wrote "Matheson appears to be suggesting that those who held shares before the announcement, and those who held after, potentially have different cases to argue."
But after consulting with my colleague <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/travis-lundy" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:25" rel="noopener">Travis Lundy</a>, I omitted this line, as it was effectively moot.
Matheson would have singled out these short-term investors - hedge funds - irrespectively. Yet, such a statement is irrelevant. All shareholders, as at the record date of the Special General Meeting, have the same rights to be treated fairly and rights to dissension.
I note some recent commentary in the media addressing Matheson's oblique reference to hedge funds, so I'll provide some commentary sourced from legal references.
Of greater importance is what these dissenters will cost Matheson at the end of the day.
More below the fold.
<hr>
I've extensively dealt with appraisal rights in the Cayman Islands in past insights, which can also provide guidance as to how dissension may be interpreted in Bermuda (where Strategic is incorporated):
<a href="https://skr.ma/TDg1T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Homecoming For Chinese Companies: Appraisal Rights &amp; Fair Value</a>
<a href="https://skr.ma/Hy3JW" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trina Solar: Appraisal Rights Judgment Another Setback for Dissenters</a>
<a href="https://skr.ma/H7E1t" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Changyou (CYOU US): Short-Form Merger Dissent Now Permitted</a>

As discussed in Jardine Matheson: Strategic Buyout Done, after Jardine Strategic Holdings (JS SP) shareholders voted through, as expected, the Offer from Jardine Matheson Holdings (JM SP), after the vote, Matheson said a number of shareholders in Strategic voted against the acquisition, but also that:


a large number of shares voted against the resolution were held by investors who were not shareholders at the time of the announcement of the Acquisition on 8 March 2021. Some investors have indicated an intention to apply to the Court in Bermuda to appraise the fair value of their shares, in accordance with the process described in the shareholder circular issued by Jardine Strategic in connection with the Acquisition.


I initially wrote "Matheson appears to be suggesting that those who held shares before the announcement, and those who held after, potentially have different cases to argue."
But after consulting with my colleague Travis Lundy, I omitted this line, as it was effectively moot.
Matheson would have singled out these short-term investors - hedge funds - irrespectively. Yet, such a statement is irrelevant. All shareholders, as at the record date of the Special General Meeting, have the same rights to be treated fairly and rights to dissension.
I note some recent commentary in the media addressing Matheson's oblique reference to hedge funds, so I'll provide some commentary sourced from legal references.
Of greater importance is what these dissenters will cost Matheson at the end of the day.
More below the fold.

I've extensively dealt with appraisal rights in the Cayman Islands in past insights, which can also provide guidance as to how dissension may be interpreted in Bermuda (where Strategic is incorporated):
Homecoming For Chinese Companies: Appraisal Rights &amp; Fair Value
Trina Solar: Appraisal Rights Judgment Another Setback for Dissenters
Changyou (CYOU US): Short-Form Merger Dissent Now Permitted

Jardine Matheson Holdings

Jardine Matheson: Lessons in Dissent