IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

Arun has over 15 years’ experience covering the Technology sector. During this time, he has worked with technology start-ups and as an equity analyst in investment banks and independent research firms. He was formerly a Technology Analyst for Canaccord Genuity, Altium Securities, Espirito Santo Investment Bank, Noble Group and Clear Capital. He has a dual Master’s degree in Financial Engineering and Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is also a CFA charterholder.

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Tongcheng-Elong IPO Valuation: An Awkwardly Timed Trip

Tongcheng-ELong IPO: Our 'Two Cents' on Valuation of Tencent's Online Travel Business

Tongcheng-ELong (同程艺龙) Potential Lock-Up Expiry Trade - US$1.3bn to Be Sold by Pre-IPO Investors

Tongcheng-Elong IPO Preview: When Unequals Try to Merge as Equals

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

Equity Capital Markets

Tongcheng Travel Holdings  / Equity Capital Markets

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/27363" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27363:1">Tongcheng-Elong Holdings Ltd (1629482D CH)</a>, the third largest online travel agency (OTA) in China, was formed through the merger of Tongcheng Network (LY.com) with E-dragon Holdings Limited (Elong). According to press reports, Tongcheng-Elong has started pre-marketing for a Hong Kong IPO to raise $0.9 billion (down from the previous target of $1.0-1.5 billion).</p><div class="content-highlight"><p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/tongcheng-elong-ipo-preview-when-unequals-try-to-merge-as-equals" target="_blank">our previous note</a>, we showed that Tongcheng-Elong is a merger of unequals due to the stitching together of a strong business (Tongcheng) with a weak business (Elong). In this note, we show that the “collaboration” framework agreements with Ctrip, the second largest shareholder, is more favourable to Ctrip and constrain Tongcheng-Elong’s profitability.</p></div>

Tongcheng-Elong Holdings Ltd (1629482D CH), the third largest online travel agency (OTA) in China, was formed through the merger of Tongcheng Network (LY.com) with E-dragon Holdings Limited (Elong). According to press reports, Tongcheng-Elong has started pre-marketing for a Hong Kong IPO to raise $0.9 billion (down from the previous target of $1.0-1.5 billion).In our previous note, we showed that Tongcheng-Elong is a merger of unequals due to the stitching together of a strong business (Tongcheng) with a weak business (Elong). In this note, we show that the “collaboration” framework agreements with Ctrip, the second largest shareholder, is more favourable to Ctrip and constrain Tongcheng-Elong’s profitability.

Tongcheng-Elong IPO: Strategic Shareholder Agreement Constraints Profitability