Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Nicolas Van Broekhoven

Was on the buyside for 15 years, most recently at a medium-sized boutique asset management firm. I grew up in Europe, went to university in the US and have been living in Singapore for the last 7 years which has given me a broad scope on the world and investing in general.

Consider myself a generalist investor with a preference for small and mid-cap companies and special situations. However, a large cap that has gone temporarily out of favor might also pique my interest. 

My style of investing could be categorized as more of value investor, rather than growth at any cost. Learning from Charlie Munger on the importance of quality of a company has been of tremendous value over the years.I like businesses with real earnings, cash flows, dividends, book value and insider ownership.

Insight Provider

Vivendi: 50%Trade Sale of Universal Music Will Receive Strong Interest; 17/2/2022 Is Coming Closer

Vivendi (VIV FP Equity): All About UMG. Bet on Vincent Bollore to Create Maximum Value by 17/02/22

Vivendi: Coming IPO of Universal Music Group (UMG) Gives Best Exposure to Growth in Streaming Music

Sony's Next Deal - The Rest of EMI? I'd Bet On It

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Equity Bottom-Up

Since 2017 we have written various insights on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/vivendi-sa" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21076:1" rel="noopener">Vivendi SA (VIV FP) and Chairman Bollore.</a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/vivendi-coming-ipo-of-universal-music-group-umg-gives-best-exposure-to-growth-in-streaming-music" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:14102" rel="noopener">Vivendi: Coming IPO of Universal Music Group (UMG) Gives Best Exposure to Growth in Streaming Music</a> in October 2017<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/vivendi-50-trade-sale-of-universal-music-will-receive-strong-interest-17-2-2022-is-coming-closer" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:24640" rel="noopener">Vivendi: 50%Trade Sale of Universal Music Will Receive Strong Interest; 17/2/2022 Is Coming Closer</a> in October 2018<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/vivendi-viv-fp-equity-all-about-umg-bet-on-vincent-bollore-to-create-maximum-value-by-17-02-22" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:33243" rel="noopener">Vivendi (VIV FP Equity): All About UMG. Bet on Vincent Bollore to Create Maximum Value by 17/02/22</a> in October 2019The crown jewel of Vivendi has been UMG and news over the weekend has come out that 60% of UMG will be listed in Amsterdam. Recall, 20% of UMG is already owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a> which increased its stake from 10% to 20% in late December 2020. The remaining 20% will stay with Vivendi.Vivendi's share price rallied 19.6% on the news and as it is digested all eyes should now be on 17/02/2022. This is the official retirement date of Vincent Bollore. As we have predicted over the years (see previous insights) he will want to leave the group on a high note.We, therefore, expect more value-enhancing moves for Vivendi shareholders by Vincent Bollore. Vivendi remains a solid large-cap European story with anticipation for UMG's IPO surely building in 2Q and 3Q. The question that has been posed since 2017 remains the same: would you rather own <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/spotify-technology-sa" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26772:1" rel="noopener">Spotify Technology SA (SPOT US)</a> (65 billion USD market cap), which is the distributor of music, OR would you rather own the largest music catalog owner?Our bet is that once this understanding gets out in the market valuation expectations for UMG will be ramped up aggressively from the minimum 30 billion EUR valuation. Over the coming six months Wall Street banks will be falling over each other to help investors understand the opportunity we have been writing about since 2017. Better late than never.

Since 2017 we have written various insights on Vivendi SA (VIV FP) and Chairman Bollore.Vivendi: Coming IPO of Universal Music Group (UMG) Gives Best Exposure to Growth in Streaming Music in October 2017Vivendi: 50%Trade Sale of Universal Music Will Receive Strong Interest; 17/2/2022 Is Coming Closer in October 2018Vivendi (VIV FP Equity): All About UMG. Bet on Vincent Bollore to Create Maximum Value by 17/02/22 in October 2019The crown jewel of Vivendi has been UMG and news over the weekend has come out that 60% of UMG will be listed in Amsterdam. Recall, 20% of UMG is already owned by Tencent Holdings (700 HK) which increased its stake from 10% to 20% in late December 2020. The remaining 20% will stay with Vivendi.Vivendi's share price rallied 19.6% on the news and as it is digested all eyes should now be on 17/02/2022. This is the official retirement date of Vincent Bollore. As we have predicted over the years (see previous insights) he will want to leave the group on a high note.We, therefore, expect more value-enhancing moves for Vivendi shareholders by Vincent Bollore. Vivendi remains a solid large-cap European story with anticipation for UMG's IPO surely building in 2Q and 3Q. The question that has been posed since 2017 remains the same: would you rather own Spotify Technology SA (SPOT US) (65 billion USD market cap), which is the distributor of music, OR would you rather own the largest music catalog owner?Our bet is that once this understanding gets out in the market valuation expectations for UMG will be ramped up aggressively from the minimum 30 billion EUR valuation. Over the coming six months Wall Street banks will be falling over each other to help investors understand the opportunity we have been writing about since 2017. Better late than never.

Vivendi: IPO of UMG Late '21 to Benefit Tencent; Still Watching 17/02/22 For Final Bollore Fireworks