Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

HK Type 4 license through Ballingal Investment Advisors Ltd. ("BIA" or "BIAL")

BACKGROUND
I have 20+yrs experience in Asia doing alternative strategies (i.e. non-delta1 non long-only) in fixed income, equity derivatives, and activist/catalyst/event-driven and long-short equity strategies with most of that time spent managing money. 

4 years in fixed income macro, 8 years running internal hedge fund and 4yrs investment banking at Citi in Japan, 3 years running an Asia multi-strat portfolio at a hedge fund, 4+yrs as an independent special situations analyst.

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

The Week That Was in ASEAN@Smartkarma - Bank Mandiri, Monde Nissin IPO, and Singapore's Free Press

Alamak! SPH Restructuring Restructured as Keppel Bo Jios SPH Holders

SPH Shareholders Approve Spinoff - There's Still a Spread To Earn

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/singapore-press-holdings-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9952:1" rel="noopener">Singapore Press Holdings (SPH SP)</a> had been undergoing a strategic review - something long awaited, and perpetually not quite done. The outcome is going to disappoint some (thus my title).Today, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/singapore-press-holdings-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9952:1" rel="noopener">Singapore Press Holdings (SPH SP)</a> made an <a href="https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Announcement.ashx?App=Announcement&amp;FileID=665172" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> (<a href="https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Media%20Release.ashx?App=Announcement&amp;FileID=665173" target="_blank" rel="noopener">media release</a>, <a href="https://links.sgx.com/FileOpen/Analyst%20Briefing.ashx?App=Announcement&amp;FileID=665174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analyst presentation</a>) that it would undergo a Proposed Restructuring (defined by a Business Restructuring Deed ("BRD")) which would spin off the Media Business into a Media Holdco which would be run as a not-for-profit in the form of a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG), basically a charity in corporate form (subject to the Companies Act). The quick and dirty of the situation is that SPH is giving away 6.6% of its equity (and 12+% of its market cap) to the ether so that it is no longer carrying the media business around its neck like an albatross. The Media business has seen revenue declines in the traditional print space, and SPH Media ad revenue fell 39% from FY2018 to FY2020. Operating revenue in the past five years has halved, and in FY2020, the SPH Media business posted its first ever loss. H1 2021 has seen the run-rate worsen further. The idea is to give away the business, and assets to help it fund itself, to ring-fence SPH from SPH Media going forward, and to remove the strictures of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act ("NPPA") which bind SPH today.One can think of it as an owner having to recapitalise a loss-making business before selling it for a dollar. Sometimes something is worth less than nothing. It is not a done deal. There are conditions to complete. But it is worthwhile looking at the before/after to determine the "value" of SPH going forward because while revenue will drop, operating profits should increase on a pro-forma basis, and dropping the NPPA restrictions has the potential to make things quite interesting in the medium-long-term.More below the fold.

Singapore Press Holdings (SPH SP) had been undergoing a strategic review - something long awaited, and perpetually not quite done. The outcome is going to disappoint some (thus my title).Today, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH SP) made an announcement (media release, analyst presentation) that it would undergo a Proposed Restructuring (defined by a Business Restructuring Deed ("BRD")) which would spin off the Media Business into a Media Holdco which would be run as a not-for-profit in the form of a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG), basically a charity in corporate form (subject to the Companies Act). The quick and dirty of the situation is that SPH is giving away 6.6% of its equity (and 12+% of its market cap) to the ether so that it is no longer carrying the media business around its neck like an albatross. The Media business has seen revenue declines in the traditional print space, and SPH Media ad revenue fell 39% from FY2018 to FY2020. Operating revenue in the past five years has halved, and in FY2020, the SPH Media business posted its first ever loss. H1 2021 has seen the run-rate worsen further. The idea is to give away the business, and assets to help it fund itself, to ring-fence SPH from SPH Media going forward, and to remove the strictures of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act ("NPPA") which bind SPH today.One can think of it as an owner having to recapitalise a loss-making business before selling it for a dollar. Sometimes something is worth less than nothing. It is not a done deal. There are conditions to complete. But it is worthwhile looking at the before/after to determine the "value" of SPH going forward because while revenue will drop, operating profits should increase on a pro-forma basis, and dropping the NPPA restrictions has the potential to make things quite interesting in the medium-long-term.More below the fold. 

Singapore Press Own Time Own Target Restructuring Lor... (Come I Clap For You)