Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The founder and former chairman and CEO of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nexon-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16032:1" rel="noopener">Nexon (3659 JP)</a> passed away according to both Nexon and his holding company NXC. Both announced it late afternoon 1 March.</li>
<li>NXC - the near-parent  (47+% stake) of Nexon tried to sell Nexon/NXC in H1 2019 to no avail. Since then, profits have rebounded somewhat, and investments have multiplied. </li>
<li>The estate may wish to sell Nexon shares, or its entire stake, at some point near-term.</li>
</ul>


The founder and former chairman and CEO of Nexon (3659 JP) passed away according to both Nexon and his holding company NXC. Both announced it late afternoon 1 March.
NXC - the near-parent  (47+% stake) of Nexon tried to sell Nexon/NXC in H1 2019 to no avail. Since then, profits have rebounded somewhat, and investments have multiplied. 
The estate may wish to sell Nexon shares, or its entire stake, at some point near-term.


Nexon - Founder Kim Jung-Ju Passes, Raises Question if Nexon Deal Is Back In Play

AlphaSituations-Event/Catalyst Driven Research, AlphaSituations

Robert Sassoon

AlphaSituations-Event/Catalyst Driven Research

AlphaSituations

Since its establishment, AlphaSituations has delivered a track record of outperformance with a hit rate of winners of more than 70% of its portfolio of ideas generating annualized average returns of 20%. In January 2022, AlphaSituations was contracted by Water Tower Research, an investor engagement and stakeholder communication platform to provide coverage of Special Situations

<ul>
<li>Microsoft's all cash acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is the biggest in the former's history and the largest ever transaction in the video gaming sector.</li>
<li>While intense regulatory scrutiny of the deal is expected, the arguments favoring high odds for eventual deal approval are reasonable. </li>
<li>We believe the 17% merger spread offers the prospect of  double-digits annualized return over the next 12 to 18 months.</li>
</ul>


Microsoft's all cash acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is the biggest in the former's history and the largest ever transaction in the video gaming sector.
While intense regulatory scrutiny of the deal is expected, the arguments favoring high odds for eventual deal approval are reasonable. 
We believe the 17% merger spread offers the prospect of  double-digits annualized return over the next 12 to 18 months.


MergerTalk: Microsoft/Activision Blizzard-Why We Think This Transaction May Not Be Such A Gamble

Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Capital Markets

<ul><li>The dynamics of gaming industry are changing rapidly after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a phenomenal valuation.</li><li>One would expect Activision’s rival, Electronic Arts to gain a valuation premium after this event especially given that the company’s financial performance has been decent.</li><li>EA's live services across its portfolio have delivered strong recurring revenue and year-over-year growth in the previous quarter and it remains fundamentally strong.</li></ul>

The dynamics of gaming industry are changing rapidly after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a phenomenal valuation.One would expect Activision’s rival, Electronic Arts to gain a valuation premium after this event especially given that the company’s financial performance has been decent.EA's live services across its portfolio have delivered strong recurring revenue and year-over-year growth in the previous quarter and it remains fundamentally strong.

Electronic Arts: Growing In A Fast-Evolving Gaming Industry 02/22

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst, Obex Capital Research

Aaron Gabin

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research Analyst

TMT & Consumer Independent Equity Research

Obex Capital Research

“Obex” is Latin for Barriers to Entry. Obex Capital Management’s investment philosophy is driven by an intense focus on which business model’s Barriers to Entry are able to withstand the ever increasing competitive disruption in the TMT and Consumer Sectors.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>A blizzard of cost synergies we conservatively estimate at $500MM from lower distribution commissions, hosting costs, and cutting ATVI's highly paid C-Suite.</li>
<li>Multiple strategic benefits: Catalyzes Microsoft's XCloud streaming game service and Game Pass subscription offering....potentially offers greater leverage for app store negotiations with Apple and Google.</li>
<li>Accretive on valuation alone...MSFT is paying a 10% discount to ATVI's 23x average forward PE from last few years. MSFT's 11x forward P/S vs. ATVI's 5.5x revalues ATVI's revenues 2x.</li>
</ul>


A blizzard of cost synergies we conservatively estimate at $500MM from lower distribution commissions, hosting costs, and cutting ATVI's highly paid C-Suite.
Multiple strategic benefits: Catalyzes Microsoft's XCloud streaming game service and Game Pass subscription offering....potentially offers greater leverage for app store negotiations with Apple and Google.
Accretive on valuation alone...MSFT is paying a 10% discount to ATVI's 23x average forward PE from last few years. MSFT's 11x forward P/S vs. ATVI's 5.5x revalues ATVI's revenues 2x.


Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition Is a Stupendous Deal

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>On 22 December, there there were four global metaverse ETFs launched by the local asset management companies in Korea.</li>
<li>Two days after the launch, the combined market caps of these four ETFs have already reached 163 billion won.</li>
<li>These four ETFs have different components, they all have the following four stocks in common (AMD, Microsoft, Unity Software, and Nvidia). </li>
</ul>


On 22 December, there there were four global metaverse ETFs launched by the local asset management companies in Korea.
Two days after the launch, the combined market caps of these four ETFs have already reached 163 billion won.
These four ETFs have different components, they all have the following four stocks in common (AMD, Microsoft, Unity Software, and Nvidia). 


Launch of Global Metaverse ETFs by Local Asset Mgmt Companies & Update of Korean Metaverse ETFs

United States

Electronic Arts Inc. develops, publishes, and distributes branded interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld game players, and cellular handsets. The Company also provides online game-related services.

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Electronic Arts (EA US)

Nexon - Founder Kim Jung-Ju Passes, Raises Question if Nexon Deal Is Back In Play

Nexon's founder Kim Jung-ju has passed away. This raises the question of the disposition of the 47+% stake belonging to his holding company NXC. If...

Travis Lundy

MergerTalk: Microsoft/Activision Blizzard-Why We Think This Transaction May Not Be Such A Gamble

Why we think that the prospect of earning double-digits annualized returns from this transaction within the next 18 months might not be such a gamble

Robert Sassoon

Electronic Arts: Growing In A Fast-Evolving Gaming Industry 02/22

The dynamics of gaming industry are changing rapidly after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a phenomenal valuation. One...

Baptista Research

Microsoft’s Activision Acquisition Is a Stupendous Deal

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision is a homerun by any measure: strategically, financially, and on valuation. We expect the level of synergies...

Aaron Gabin

Launch of Global Metaverse ETFs by Local Asset Mgmt Companies & Update of Korean Metaverse ETFs

On 22 December, there there were four global metaverse ETFs launched by the local asset management companies in Korea. The combined market caps of...

Douglas Kim

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