Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Now that Lee Jae-Myung has become new South Korean President, the uncertainty revolving who will lead South Korea in the next five years is now over.</li>
<li>In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the market for the remainder of 2025.</li>
<li>The four investment themes include Korean Holdcos/Quasi Holdcos, Korean Cultural Contents, Securities, and SK Group Companies.</li>
</ul>


Now that Lee Jae-Myung has become new South Korean President, the uncertainty revolving who will lead South Korea in the next five years is now over.
In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the market for the remainder of 2025.
The four investment themes include Korean Holdcos/Quasi Holdcos, Korean Cultural Contents, Securities, and SK Group Companies.


Lee Jae-Myung Becomes the New South Korean President - Four Investment Themes That Could Outperform

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>On 28 February, WeBull announced a merger with SK Growth Opportunities SPAC on NASDAQ. The proposed transaction represented an implied pro forma enterprise value of about $7.3 billion. </li>
<li>WeBull had 4.3 million funded accounts and  $8.2bn in assets under custody at end of 2023. In comparison, Robinhood had 23.4mn funded accounts and $102.6bn in assets under custody. </li>
<li>Given the numerous material concerns about this deal, we would avoid it. There are no financials including income statement and balance sheet of WeBull in the prospectus. </li>
</ul>


On 28 February, WeBull announced a merger with SK Growth Opportunities SPAC on NASDAQ. The proposed transaction represented an implied pro forma enterprise value of about $7.3 billion. 
WeBull had 4.3 million funded accounts and  $8.2bn in assets under custody at end of 2023. In comparison, Robinhood had 23.4mn funded accounts and $102.6bn in assets under custody. 
Given the numerous material concerns about this deal, we would avoid it. There are no financials including income statement and balance sheet of WeBull in the prospectus. 


A Merger Between WeBull and SK Growth Opportunities Corp in NASDAQ

Korea / Special Situations, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Situations

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

<ul>
<li>The proposed bill fully closes the treasury-share loopholes, bans all exchangeable/pledge uses, blocks M&amp;A allocations, and imposes strict cancellation deadlines—1 year for new buys, 6 months for existing.</li>
<li>The amendment tightens disposal rules: no cancellation means pro-rata sales to existing shareholders only, shutting down selective deals and closing the wide-open disposal gap under current law.</li>
<li>The proposal is far tougher than expected, likely to become the final version, and should drive a near-term mandatory-cancel narrative and notable price action in governance-sensitive holding-co names.</li>
</ul>


The proposed bill fully closes the treasury-share loopholes, bans all exchangeable/pledge uses, blocks M&amp;A allocations, and imposes strict cancellation deadlines—1 year for new buys, 6 months for existing.
The amendment tightens disposal rules: no cancellation means pro-rata sales to existing shareholders only, shutting down selective deals and closing the wide-open disposal gap under current law.
The proposal is far tougher than expected, likely to become the final version, and should drive a near-term mandatory-cancel narrative and notable price action in governance-sensitive holding-co names.


Ruling Party Unveils Key Details of 3rd Commercial Act Amendment: Mandatory Treasury-Share Disposal

<ul>
<li>There is an end of a lock-up period for 55.3 million shares (33% of outstanding shares) for SK Innovation (096770 KS) starting 20 November 2025.</li>
<li>This could potentially result in additional selling by insiders which could negatively impact its share price in the coming weeks.</li>
<li>SK Innovation is currently trading at relatively high valuation multiples. We remain Bearish on SK Innovation.</li>
</ul>


There is an end of a lock-up period for 55.3 million shares (33% of outstanding shares) for SK Innovation (096770 KS) starting 20 November 2025.
This could potentially result in additional selling by insiders which could negatively impact its share price in the coming weeks.
SK Innovation is currently trading at relatively high valuation multiples. We remain Bearish on SK Innovation.


SK Innovation - End of Lockup Period For 33% of Outstanding Shares

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

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.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analyzed the changes in foreign holdings of KRX stocks as of Oct 24th. The aggregated holding was USD811.6bn.</li>
<li>We estimate that foreign flows to be outflows of USD630mln. We tabulate the league table for top changes by value for 1W/4W/1Y and top stocks held by foreign institutions.</li>
<li>We highlight changes of foreign holdings in SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Elec (PREF).</li>
</ul>


We analyzed the changes in foreign holdings of KRX stocks as of Oct 24th. The aggregated holding was USD811.6bn.
We estimate that foreign flows to be outflows of USD630mln. We tabulate the league table for top changes by value for 1W/4W/1Y and top stocks held by foreign institutions.
We highlight changes of foreign holdings in SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Elec (PREF).


KRX Foreign Holding Weekly (Oct 24th): SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility

South Korea

SK Holdings Co., Ltd. is a holdings company that is engaged in various industries including energy, chemicals, information technology, semiconductors, marketing, and services businesses in South Korea and internationally.

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SK Inc (034730 KS)

Lee Jae-Myung Becomes the New South Korean President - Four Investment Themes That Could Outperform

In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the...

Douglas Kim

A Merger Between WeBull and SK Growth Opportunities Corp in NASDAQ

On 28 February, WeBull announced a merger with SK Growth Opportunities SPAC on NASDAQ. The proposed transaction represented an implied pro forma...

Douglas Kim

SK Innovation - End of Lockup Period For 33% of Outstanding Shares

There is an end of a lock-up period for 55.3 million shares (33% of outstanding shares) for SK Innovation starting 20 November. This could...

Douglas Kim

KRX Foreign Holding Weekly (Oct 24th): SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility

We analyzed KRX foreign holding data for the past week and highlighted foreign holding changes in SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility,...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Lee Jae-Myung Becomes the New South Korean President - Four Investment Themes That Could Outperform

In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the...

Douglas Kim

A Merger Between WeBull and SK Growth Opportunities Corp in NASDAQ

On 28 February, WeBull announced a merger with SK Growth Opportunities SPAC on NASDAQ. The proposed transaction represented an implied pro forma...

Douglas Kim

Ruling Party Unveils Key Details of 3rd Commercial Act Amendment: Mandatory Treasury-Share Disposal

This post covers the full structure of the Ruling Party’s full 3rd Commercial Act amendment draft, outlining mandatory treasury-share disposal.

Sanghyun Park

SK Innovation - End of Lockup Period For 33% of Outstanding Shares

There is an end of a lock-up period for 55.3 million shares (33% of outstanding shares) for SK Innovation starting 20 November. This could...

Douglas Kim

KRX Foreign Holding Weekly (Oct 24th): SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility

We analyzed KRX foreign holding data for the past week and highlighted foreign holding changes in SK Hynix, Hanwha Ocean, Doosan Enerbility,...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM