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.

Equity Capital Markets

Kuaishou Technology / Equity Capital Markets

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/beijing-kuaishou-technology-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29725:1" rel="noopener">Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co Ltd (1496219D CH)</a> (KT) is a content community and social platform. The company is backed 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>, Sequoia China, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a>, DST Global, Boyu Capital, Temasek and others.</p><p> As of six months ended Jun 2020, it had 302m daily active users (DAUs), who spent 85 mins on average on the app every day. It also had 776m monthly active users (MAUs) and total e-commerce GMV of RMB109.6bn. On an average 1.1bn short videos were uploaded on its app during 1H20.</p><p> As per iResearch, Kuaishou was globally the largest live streaming platform by gross billings from virtual gifting and average live streaming MPUs, the second largest short video platform by average DAUs, and the second largest live streaming e-commerce platform by GMV, over six months ended June 30, 2020.</p><p>In this note, I'll talk about the positive aspects of the deal.</p>

Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co Ltd (1496219D CH) (KT) is a content community and social platform. The company is backed by Tencent Holdings (700 HK), Sequoia China, Baidu (BIDU US), DST Global, Boyu Capital, Temasek and others. As of six months ended Jun 2020, it had 302m daily active users (DAUs), who spent 85 mins on average on the app every day. It also had 776m monthly active users (MAUs) and total e-commerce GMV of RMB109.6bn. On an average 1.1bn short videos were uploaded on its app during 1H20. As per iResearch, Kuaishou was globally the largest live streaming platform by gross billings from virtual gifting and average live streaming MPUs, the second largest short video platform by average DAUs, and the second largest live streaming e-commerce platform by GMV, over six months ended June 30, 2020.In this note, I'll talk about the positive aspects of the deal.

Kuaishou Technology Pre-IPO - The Positives - Hot Segment, Fast Growth

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

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.

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/beijing-kuaishou-technology-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29725:1" rel="noopener">Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co Ltd (1496219D CH)</a> is the second-largest short video platform by average DAUs (daily active users) in 1H20, according to iResearch. Users access the platform primarily through a family of mobile apps comprising <em>Kuaishou Flagship</em>, <em>Kuaishou Express</em> and <em>Kuaishou Concept</em>, which is collectively referred to as the Kuaishou App. Kuaishou is backed 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> (21.57% shareholder), Morningside Venture Capital, DCM Capital (9.23%), <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/baidu-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:179:1" rel="noopener">Baidu (BIDU US)</a> (3.78%), Sequoia Capital (3.20%), Boyu Capital (2.29%) and Temasek (0.86%). In January 2020, Kuaishou raised $3 billion through a Series F round at a valuation of $28 billion, according to press reports. Kuaishou has filed for a Hong Kong IPO to raise up to $5 billion as early as January 2021, according to Reuters. </p><div class="content-highlight"><p>As a key competitor to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bytedance-technology" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27936:1" rel="noopener">ByteDance (1460967D CH)</a>’s Douyin, Kuaishou offers public market investors the first opportunity to gain direct exposure to China’s short-video platform market. While Kuaishou’s performance over the track record period is distorted due to various factors, we believe that the underlying fundamentals are attractive.</p></div>

Beijing Kuaishou Technology Co Ltd (1496219D CH) is the second-largest short video platform by average DAUs (daily active users) in 1H20, according to iResearch. Users access the platform primarily through a family of mobile apps comprising Kuaishou Flagship, Kuaishou Express and Kuaishou Concept, which is collectively referred to as the Kuaishou App. Kuaishou is backed by Tencent Holdings (700 HK) (21.57% shareholder), Morningside Venture Capital, DCM Capital (9.23%), Baidu (BIDU US) (3.78%), Sequoia Capital (3.20%), Boyu Capital (2.29%) and Temasek (0.86%). In January 2020, Kuaishou raised $3 billion through a Series F round at a valuation of $28 billion, according to press reports. Kuaishou has filed for a Hong Kong IPO to raise up to $5 billion as early as January 2021, according to Reuters. As a key competitor to ByteDance (1460967D CH)’s Douyin, Kuaishou offers public market investors the first opportunity to gain direct exposure to China’s short-video platform market. While Kuaishou’s performance over the track record period is distorted due to various factors, we believe that the underlying fundamentals are attractive.

Kuaishou IPO Initiation: Dancing to Its Own Tune

Managing Director, Zero One, Zero One

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Managing Director, Zero One

Zero One

Founded in 2015, Zero One produces independent investment research and provides corporate finance advisory services with a focus on both listed and private technology companies. Founder Vincent Fernando has over 20 years of experience in US and Asia capital markets.

Independent Investment Research

Private Capital Markets

<div class="content-highlight"><h2>What You Need to Know</h2></div><ul>
<li>
<strong>Private equity returns have outperformed public equity in the last decade.</strong> From March 2010 to 2020, private equity has generated an average annual return of 13.2% per year as compared to public equity at 6.6%. To put this into perspective, the implied compounded returns of PE over the last 10-year period was 246% versus 89% for public equity. This is partially attributed to the increasing number of unicorn companies - privately held startups reaching a valuation of over US$1 billion - most of which experience their highest growth and return periods in the private market rather than in the IPO stage.</li>
<li>
<strong>COVID-19 has upheaved the business and operating landscape for unicorns.</strong> Lockdown measures, heightened hygiene awareness, and increased travel restrictions are the realities faced by unicorn companies in the new normal, on top of a global recession hampering consumption.</li>
<li>
<strong>Unicorns supercharged by the pandemic: e-Commerce, FinTech, and Remote Work/Study.</strong> Digital platforms have experienced massive adoption as consumers and businesses alike are realizing that they don’t need a physical space in order to interact and transact.</li>
<li>
<strong>Unicorns forced to pivot by the pandemic: Travel &amp; Hospitality, Ride-hailing.</strong> Fear of infection and travel restrictions have hampered the bread-and-butter businesses of many unicorns, forcing them to offer new products &amp; services in the interim. Super-app unicorns (or apps that house a range of sub-apps serving many different functions) have proven more resilient, as they are easily able to switch to other businesses like on-demand delivery and fintech.</li>
</ul><p></p><p><em>Note: This research is commissioned by iSTOX in collaboration with Zero One. iSTOX, a next-generation private capital markets platform, provides accredited investors with access to previously out-of-reach investment opportunities, including exposure to unicorn companies. Click <a href="https://istox.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> to learn more.</em></p>

What You Need to Know

Private equity returns have outperformed public equity in the last decade. From March 2010 to 2020, private equity has generated an average annual return of 13.2% per year as compared to public equity at 6.6%. To put this into perspective, the implied compounded returns of PE over the last 10-year period was 246% versus 89% for public equity. This is partially attributed to the increasing number of unicorn companies - privately held startups reaching a valuation of over US$1 billion - most of which experience their highest growth and return periods in the private market rather than in the IPO stage.

COVID-19 has upheaved the business and operating landscape for unicorns. Lockdown measures, heightened hygiene awareness, and increased travel restrictions are the realities faced by unicorn companies in the new normal, on top of a global recession hampering consumption.

Unicorns supercharged by the pandemic: e-Commerce, FinTech, and Remote Work/Study. Digital platforms have experienced massive adoption as consumers and businesses alike are realizing that they don’t need a physical space in order to interact and transact.

Unicorns forced to pivot by the pandemic: Travel &amp; Hospitality, Ride-hailing. Fear of infection and travel restrictions have hampered the bread-and-butter businesses of many unicorns, forcing them to offer new products &amp; services in the interim. Super-app unicorns (or apps that house a range of sub-apps serving many different functions) have proven more resilient, as they are easily able to switch to other businesses like on-demand delivery and fintech.
Note: This research is commissioned by iSTOX in collaboration with Zero One. iSTOX, a next-generation private capital markets platform, provides accredited investors with access to previously out-of-reach investment opportunities, including exposure to unicorn companies. Click here to learn more.

The Future of Private Market Unicorns in a Post-Pandemic World

Event-Driven

<div>
<p>With the long drawn out merger of CCT+CMT finally approved with minimal resistance, with the little there was coming mostly from CCT holders, the combined entity will add to the bunch of listed REITs which offer a mix of office and retail exposure. </p>
</div>
<p>For investors interested in obtaining Singapore (SG) office or suburban retail exposure, the pure play options are now fairly limited.</p>
<p></p>
<div>
<p><strong>Links to my previous REITs insights:</strong></p>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/singapore-reits-what-s-been-cooking-this-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore REITs - What’s Been Cooking This Year,</a> I spoke about how the REITs have performed this year and touched upon some of the factors that have been driving them. </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-for-sgreits-retail-reits-share-price-has-been-more-resilient-than-it-should-be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas for SGREITs - Retail REITs Share Price Has Been More Resilient than It Should Be,</a> covers the factors that have been impacting retail REITs. </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-sg-office-reits-this-time-it-s-different" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas SG Office REITs - This Time It’s Different</a> covers how the office REITs might fare better.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-sg-industrial-reits-bigger-names-have-been-holding-up-a-little-too-well" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas SG Industrial REITs - Bigger Names Have Been Holding up a Little Too Well </a> looks at the industrial REITs</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/singapore-reits-get-out-of-jail-free-card-for-the-tenants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore REITs - Get Out of Jail Free Card, for the Tenants</a> I spoke about how the recent changes announced by the government would benefit the smaller tenants more than the landlords.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-sg-eu-us-focus-reits-the-orphaned-lot-is-starting-to-look-interesting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas SG EU/​US Focus REITs - The Orphaned Lot Is Starting to Look Interesting</a> looks at the EU/US focussed REITs trading wider than their SG and US listed peers</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-for-sgreits-update-on-office-vs-retail-trade-up-8-so-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas for SGREITs - Update on Office Vs Retail Trade, up 8% so Far</a> I spoke about the recent updates impacting the REITs and implications of Suntec Results</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-for-sgreits-more-updates-on-office-vs-retail-trade-from-kreit-and-mct-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas for SGREITs - More Updates on Office Vs Retail Trade from KREIT and MCT Results</a> I spoke about KREIT and MCT results</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-sgreits-office-vs-retail-vs-industrial-up-16-so-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas SGREITs - Office Vs Retail Vs Industrial, up 16% so Far</a> I spoke about sticking to the trade till CMT results and post that switching to office versus industrial</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/singapore-reits-update-even-as-circuit-breaker-ends-2q-dpu-for-retail-reits-will-be-close-to-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore REITs Update - Even as Circuit Breaker Ends, 2Q DPU for Retail REITs Will Be Close to 0</a> I covered the impact of the governments plans for circuit breaker exit</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/trade-ideas-for-singapore-reits-coming-back-to-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trade Ideas for Singapore REITs - Coming Back to Life</a> I covered the updates over the Jan-Mar 2020 earnings season</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/singapore-reits-reits-will-have-to-fund-some-sme-rents-by-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore REITs - REITs Will Have to Fund Some SME Rents, by Law</a>, I spoke out the updates from the Fortitude budget</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/singapore-reits-new-rental-relief-framework-for-smes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore REITs - New Rental Relief Framework for SMEs</a>, I spoke about the impact of the rental relief for SMEs</li>
</ul>
</div>


With the long drawn out merger of CCT+CMT finally approved with minimal resistance, with the little there was coming mostly from CCT holders, the combined entity will add to the bunch of listed REITs which offer a mix of office and retail exposure. 

For investors interested in obtaining Singapore (SG) office or suburban retail exposure, the pure play options are now fairly limited.


Links to my previous REITs insights:




Singapore REITs - What’s Been Cooking This Year, I spoke about how the REITs have performed this year and touched upon some of the factors that have been driving them. 

Trade Ideas for SGREITs - Retail REITs Share Price Has Been More Resilient than It Should Be, covers the factors that have been impacting retail REITs. 

Trade Ideas SG Office REITs - This Time It’s Different covers how the office REITs might fare better.

Trade Ideas SG Industrial REITs - Bigger Names Have Been Holding up a Little Too Well  looks at the industrial REITs

Singapore REITs - Get Out of Jail Free Card, for the Tenants I spoke about how the recent changes announced by the government would benefit the smaller tenants more than the landlords.

Trade Ideas SG EU/​US Focus REITs - The Orphaned Lot Is Starting to Look Interesting looks at the EU/US focussed REITs trading wider than their SG and US listed peers

Trade Ideas for SGREITs - Update on Office Vs Retail Trade, up 8% so Far I spoke about the recent updates impacting the REITs and implications of Suntec Results

Trade Ideas for SGREITs - More Updates on Office Vs Retail Trade from KREIT and MCT Results I spoke about KREIT and MCT results

Trade Ideas SGREITs - Office Vs Retail Vs Industrial, up 16% so Far I spoke about sticking to the trade till CMT results and post that switching to office versus industrial

Singapore REITs Update - Even as Circuit Breaker Ends, 2Q DPU for Retail REITs Will Be Close to 0 I covered the impact of the governments plans for circuit breaker exit

Trade Ideas for Singapore REITs - Coming Back to Life I covered the updates over the Jan-Mar 2020 earnings season

Singapore REITs - REITs Will Have to Fund Some SME Rents, by Law, I spoke out the updates from the Fortitude budget

Singapore REITs - New Rental Relief Framework for SMEs, I spoke about the impact of the rental relief for SMEs



Trade Ideas for Singapore REITs - Implications from CCT+CMT Merger

ASEAN Insight Provider, CrossASEAN Research

Angus Mackintosh

ASEAN Insight Provider

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

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/media-nusantara-citra-tbk-pt" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6881:1" rel="noopener">Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ)</a> has seen an aggressive sell-off in its share price, despite announcing a reasonable set of 2Q2020 results, with especially strong growth coming from its digital advertising through RCTI+ and its YouTube Multichannel Network (MCN), which now has a staggering 101m subscribers.  </p>
<p>2Q2020 saw some impact from COVID-19, with overall revenues falling by -18%, to a large extent due to the cancellation of a number of big promotional events, as well as sporting fixtures such as the European Cup soccer league. </p>
<p>Overall ad-revenue fell by -20% in 2Q2020 but digital revenue grew by +27% YoY, with non-digital falling by -24%. This was better than the overall industry given its ability to continue to produce fresh content at its studios and more non-time-consuming (NTC) ads. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/media-nusantara-citra-tbk-pt" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6881:1" rel="noopener">Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ)</a> also saw rapid growth in its 3rd party content licensing business to PayTV and OTT players, which grew +54% in 1H2020 IDR113bn. </p>
<p>The company has also teamed up with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/facebook-inc-a" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:665:1" rel="noopener">Facebook Inc A (FB US)</a> to air its content and is in the process of signing an agreement with Tik Tok, which will also encompass talent management. </p>
<div class="content-highlight">
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/media-nusantara-citra-tbk-pt" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6881:1" rel="noopener">Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ)</a> will continue to benefit from a return to growth for its core free-to-air advertising business as the economy recovers but will also see increasing importance for its digital business, which does not look to be reflected in the share price. The company looks attractive from a valuation perspective, now trading on 4.4x FY21E PER versus its 3-year average of 8.4x forward PER, with the prospect of a +20% rebound in EPS in FY21E. It trades on 0.77x FY20E PBV yet generates an FY20E ROE of 15.5%</p>
</div>

Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ) has seen an aggressive sell-off in its share price, despite announcing a reasonable set of 2Q2020 results, with especially strong growth coming from its digital advertising through RCTI+ and its YouTube Multichannel Network (MCN), which now has a staggering 101m subscribers.  
2Q2020 saw some impact from COVID-19, with overall revenues falling by -18%, to a large extent due to the cancellation of a number of big promotional events, as well as sporting fixtures such as the European Cup soccer league. 
Overall ad-revenue fell by -20% in 2Q2020 but digital revenue grew by +27% YoY, with non-digital falling by -24%. This was better than the overall industry given its ability to continue to produce fresh content at its studios and more non-time-consuming (NTC) ads. 
Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ) also saw rapid growth in its 3rd party content licensing business to PayTV and OTT players, which grew +54% in 1H2020 IDR113bn. 
The company has also teamed up with Facebook Inc A (FB US) to air its content and is in the process of signing an agreement with Tik Tok, which will also encompass talent management. 

Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ) will continue to benefit from a return to growth for its core free-to-air advertising business as the economy recovers but will also see increasing importance for its digital business, which does not look to be reflected in the share price. The company looks attractive from a valuation perspective, now trading on 4.4x FY21E PER versus its 3-year average of 8.4x forward PER, with the prospect of a +20% rebound in EPS in FY21E. It trades on 0.77x FY20E PBV yet generates an FY20E ROE of 15.5%


Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ) - No Credit Given for Metamorphosis

China

Beijing Douyin Information Service Co. Ltd. provides online information and contents. The Company develops and operates short video platform, original short video community, news platform, and other related products. Beijing Douyin Information Service offers services worldwide.

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ByteDance (1439927D CH)

Kuaishou Technology Pre-IPO - The Positives - Hot Segment, Fast Growth

Kuaishou Technology is a content community and social platform. The company is backed by Tencent Holdings (700 HK), Sequoia China, Baidu (BIDU US),...

Sumeet Singh

Kuaishou IPO Initiation: Dancing to Its Own Tune

Kuaishou is a key competitor to ByteDance’s Douyin. While Kuaishou’s performance is distorted due to various factors, we believe that the...

Arun George

The Future of Private Market Unicorns in a Post-Pandemic World

As a result of COVID-19, some unicorn companies have had to re-engineer their business model entirely, while other unicorn companies reap the...

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Trade Ideas for Singapore REITs - Implications from CCT+CMT Merger

In my earlier insight on Singapore's Fortitude budget, Singapore REITs - REITs Will Have to Fund Some SME Rents, by Law, I had mentioned the...

Sumeet Singh

Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ) - No Credit Given for Metamorphosis

Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN IJ) has seen an aggressive sell-off

Angus Mackintosh

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