Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we discuss the recent buying and selling by the Korea National Pension Service (NPS) of Korean stocks.</li>
<li>Of the 176 Korean stocks in which NPS reported changes in ownerships in 2Q 2022, NPS increased its stakes in 115 companies and reduced stakes in 61 companies.</li>
<li>NPS mostly increased stakes in aerospace, defense, construction equipment, and energy sectors while reducing stakes in telecom and tourism related stocks.</li>
</ul>


In this insight, we discuss the recent buying and selling by the Korea National Pension Service (NPS) of Korean stocks.
Of the 176 Korean stocks in which NPS reported changes in ownerships in 2Q 2022, NPS increased its stakes in 115 companies and reduced stakes in 61 companies.
NPS mostly increased stakes in aerospace, defense, construction equipment, and energy sectors while reducing stakes in telecom and tourism related stocks.


NPS Sells SK Bioscience, Naver, & LG Electronics and Buys Kakao Bank, Lotte Corp, & Samyang Foods

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>On 23 March, it was announced that Lotte Confectionery (280360 KS) (market cap of 744 billion won) will merge with Lotte Food (002270 KS) (market cap of 395 billion won).</li>
<li>We believe this merger will have a positive impact on the shares of Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food.</li>
<li>Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food are not currently included in the KOSPI200. There will be a growing likelihood that the combined entity could be included in the KOSPI200 index. </li>
</ul>


On 23 March, it was announced that Lotte Confectionery (280360 KS) (market cap of 744 billion won) will merge with Lotte Food (002270 KS) (market cap of 395 billion won).
We believe this merger will have a positive impact on the shares of Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food.
Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food are not currently included in the KOSPI200. There will be a growing likelihood that the combined entity could be included in the KOSPI200 index. 


A Merger Between Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food: An Alpha Generating Event

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<div><p>Kakao Bank (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.</p></div><div><p>Even though Kakao started operations only in July 2017, by 2020 it had already garnered more than 1% market share of overall loans and deposits in South Korea. KB’s loans have grown by 138% over 2018 to 1Q21 to reach KRW21.6tn, while its deposits have grown by 197% over the same period to reach KRW24.2tn. </p></div><div><p>Over 2018-20, its total income (Net interest income plus net fee income) grew by 216%, while it went from booking a loss in 2018 to reporting a 26% profit margin by 2020. KB’s total income was up another 60% YoY in 1Q21, while PAT was up 153% YoY.</p></div><div><p>We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous notes, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/kakao-bank-ipo-riding-on-parent-s-network-but-boundaries-with-kakao-pay-remain-unclear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on parents network but boundaries with Kakao Pay remain unclear</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/kakao-bank-ipo-pricey-as-it-should-be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kakao Bank IPO - Pricey as It Should Be</a>.</p></div><div><p>In this note, we will talk about out the what the lack of lock-up on some investors could mean for index inclusion.</p></div>

Kakao Bank (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.Even though Kakao started operations only in July 2017, by 2020 it had already garnered more than 1% market share of overall loans and deposits in South Korea. KB’s loans have grown by 138% over 2018 to 1Q21 to reach KRW21.6tn, while its deposits have grown by 197% over the same period to reach KRW24.2tn. Over 2018-20, its total income (Net interest income plus net fee income) grew by 216%, while it went from booking a loss in 2018 to reporting a 26% profit margin by 2020. KB’s total income was up another 60% YoY in 1Q21, while PAT was up 153% YoY.We have covered various aspects of the deal in our previous notes, Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on parents network but boundaries with Kakao Pay remain unclear and Kakao Bank IPO - Pricey as It Should Be.In this note, we will talk about out the what the lack of lock-up on some investors could mean for index inclusion.

Kakao Bank IPO - Lack of Lock-Up and MSCI, FTSE Index Implications

Equity Capital Markets

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakaobank-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33501:1" rel="noopener">KakaoBank (1349010D KS)</a> (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a> held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.</p><p>Kakao Bank is a digital-bank which counts Kakao as its main shareholder. It is a branchless digital bank that only started operations in 2017. As of Mar 21, it had a loan book of US$18.8bn, deposit base of US$21.1bn. It had 16.5m customers as of May 21.</p>

KakaoBank (1349010D KS) (KB), South Korea’s largest digital bank, aims to raise up to US$2.2bn in its South Korean IPO. Kakao Corp (035720 KS) held a 31.62% stake prior to listing.Kakao Bank is a digital-bank which counts Kakao as its main shareholder. It is a branchless digital bank that only started operations in 2017. As of Mar 21, it had a loan book of US$18.8bn, deposit base of US$21.1bn. It had 16.5m customers as of May 21.

Kakao Bank IPO - Riding on Parent's Network but Boundaries with Kakao Pay Remain Unclear

<p>The Korea Exchange announced its KOSDAQ150 and KRX300 indices rebalances today. There were 17 new additions and 17 deletions for KOSDAQ150. </p><p>Most of the stocks that were expected to be included in KOSDAQ 150 were officially included in the rebalance. However there were a few surprises. For example <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nanos-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16796:1" rel="noopener">Nanos Co Ltd (151910 KS),</a>which was one of the stocks that was expected to be included in KOSDAQ150, did not get included in this indext this time. On the other hand, the following stocks including <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sang-a-frontec-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20692:1" rel="noopener">Sang A Frontec (089980 KS)</a>, Novarex (194700 KS(, CIS (222080 KS), MedPacto (215980 KS), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/koreacenter-com-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28329:1" rel="noopener">Koreacenter.com Co Ltd (290510 KS)</a>, and Soulbrain (357780 KS) which were not on the top of the lists of getting selected into the KOSDAQ150 index by the locals, were formally selected be part of the new KOSDAQ150 inclusions.  </p><p>The Korea Exchange also made changes to the KRX300 index. Although the KRX300 index is not currently as important as KOSPI200 and KOSDAQ150 indices, it is increasingly gaining in importance among the local institutional investors. The KRX300 had 33 new additions and 35 deletions. </p>

The Korea Exchange announced its KOSDAQ150 and KRX300 indices rebalances today. There were 17 new additions and 17 deletions for KOSDAQ150. Most of the stocks that were expected to be included in KOSDAQ 150 were officially included in the rebalance. However there were a few surprises. For example Nanos Co Ltd (151910 KS),which was one of the stocks that was expected to be included in KOSDAQ150, did not get included in this indext this time. On the other hand, the following stocks including Sang A Frontec (089980 KS), Novarex (194700 KS(, CIS (222080 KS), MedPacto (215980 KS), Koreacenter.com Co Ltd (290510 KS), and Soulbrain (357780 KS) which were not on the top of the lists of getting selected into the KOSDAQ150 index by the locals, were formally selected be part of the new KOSDAQ150 inclusions.  The Korea Exchange also made changes to the KRX300 index. Although the KRX300 index is not currently as important as KOSPI200 and KOSDAQ150 indices, it is increasingly gaining in importance among the local institutional investors. The KRX300 had 33 new additions and 35 deletions. 

KOSDAQ150 and KRX300 Indices Rebalances (Overlapping Additions & Deletions)

South Korea

Lotte Food Co., Ltd. is an integrated food manufacturer.  The Company specializes in producing frozen sweets, soft drinks, and dairy products.

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