Silver Point

Thomas J. Monaco

Silver Point is a boutique research firm that focuses on the broader financial services sector, with a particular focus on troubled institutions globally. 

Asia Ex Japan

Equity Bottom-Up

*Another Poor Showing: Hang Seng Bank (11.HK) [Hang Seng] reported a 1H21 result of HKD 8.8 bn, improving HKD 1.2 bn (16.3%) HOH. However, core operating results improved only nominally by HKD 52 mn or 0.8% over the period. Were it not for the unreasonable decline of HKD 639 mn (65.3%) in loss provisions as credit deteriorated, results would have been far worse;  and*Provisions Now Significantly Understated: While the current NPL ratio is not alarming on its face, the HOH increase in net new NPLs is HKD 1.7 bn or 23.5% annualized - decelerating from the HKD 3.0 bn or 201% annualized at 2H20. We find Hang Seng under-provided for to the tune of HKD 10.6 bn or nearly 1.5x the bank’s core operating result.

*Another Poor Showing: Hang Seng Bank (11.HK) [Hang Seng] reported a 1H21 result of HKD 8.8 bn, improving HKD 1.2 bn (16.3%) HOH. However, core operating results improved only nominally by HKD 52 mn or 0.8% over the period. Were it not for the unreasonable decline of HKD 639 mn (65.3%) in loss provisions as credit deteriorated, results would have been far worse;  and*Provisions Now Significantly Understated: While the current NPL ratio is not alarming on its face, the HOH increase in net new NPLs is HKD 1.7 bn or 23.5% annualized - decelerating from the HKD 3.0 bn or 201% annualized at 2H20. We find Hang Seng under-provided for to the tune of HKD 10.6 bn or nearly 1.5x the bank’s core operating result.

Hang Seng Bank – Wuihfung Remains In Full Control

*Poor 2Q21 Result: DBS Group Holdings (DBS.SP) [DBS] reported 2Q21 results of SGD 1.7 bn, decreasing SGD 304  mn (15.1%) on a linked quarter basis. The weaker results were driven primarily by an overall revenue decline, a loan provision increase, and a higher tax rate;*Watch Your Credit: We struggle continue to believe that DBS’ due diligence had actually caught all of LVB’s risk (see discussion below), and remain unconvinced that the moratorium exits are anything more than additional reliance on government schemes and relief programs. DBS has disclosed absolutely nothing about Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank’s (SRCB) fundamentals. By our calculation, and given the NCOs of SGD 69 mn, we find that net new NPLs have re-accelerated – up SGD 266 mn or increasing 18.0% annualized versus SGD 85 mn or 5.6% in 1Q21. We feel that reserves should be shored up in the neighborhood of SGD 2.5bn – amounting now to about two quarters of operating results; and *Deal Distractions Mount:  While SRCB dos not appear to be riddled with problems the way LVB is, no doubt there will be issues to contend with.  DBS apparently isn’t done with its shopping spree, being in the running for parts of Citigroup's (C.US) consumer business in Asia. Frankly, DBS needs to focus on improving its own legacy issues before it starts both taking on those of other financial institutions.

*Poor 2Q21 Result: DBS Group Holdings (DBS.SP) [DBS] reported 2Q21 results of SGD 1.7 bn, decreasing SGD 304  mn (15.1%) on a linked quarter basis. The weaker results were driven primarily by an overall revenue decline, a loan provision increase, and a higher tax rate;*Watch Your Credit: We struggle continue to believe that DBS’ due diligence had actually caught all of LVB’s risk (see discussion below), and remain unconvinced that the moratorium exits are anything more than additional reliance on government schemes and relief programs. DBS has disclosed absolutely nothing about Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank’s (SRCB) fundamentals. By our calculation, and given the NCOs of SGD 69 mn, we find that net new NPLs have re-accelerated – up SGD 266 mn or increasing 18.0% annualized versus SGD 85 mn or 5.6% in 1Q21. We feel that reserves should be shored up in the neighborhood of SGD 2.5bn – amounting now to about two quarters of operating results; and *Deal Distractions Mount:  While SRCB dos not appear to be riddled with problems the way LVB is, no doubt there will be issues to contend with.  DBS apparently isn’t done with its shopping spree, being in the running for parts of Citigroup's (C.US) consumer business in Asia. Frankly, DBS needs to focus on improving its own legacy issues before it starts both taking on those of other financial institutions.

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

Last Week in Event SPACE: SOHO China, Invesco Office, Iress, WH Group, PCCW


For the month of July, 13 new deals (firm and non-binding) were discussed on Smartkarma with an overall announced deal size of ~US$34bn.



Clicking on the company name in the table below will take you to the entity page where you can read the initial insight(s) written by Smartkarma contributors on these new deals and follow-up discussions, or simply click on the insight link(s) below the name.







New Deals


Industry


Size (US$bn)


Type


Premium




Australia




5G Networks Ltd/Australia (5GN AU) /  Webcentral (WCG AU) 
Telco
0.1
Scheme
n.a.


Webcentral - 5GN Merger: A Small-Cap Merger Aimed at ASX300 Status



Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API AU) 
Healthcare
0.5
Scheme
20.5%


API AU: The Hunter Turns The Hunted As Wesfarmers Makes A Move



Empired Ltd (EPD AU) 
Systems
0.2
Scheme
64.6%


Empired (EPD AU): Capgemini's Full Offer



iCar Asia Ltd (ICQ AU) 
Auto portal
0.2
Scheme
83%


ICar (ICQ AU): Carsome &amp; Catcha Carpool



Iress Ltd (IRE AU) 
Software
2.3
Scheme
23%


Iress (ASX AU) Bats Away EQT - For Now



Oil Search Ltd (OSH AU) 
O&amp;G
7.1
Scheme
12.3%


Santos/Oil Search: Getting Facts Straight



Rhipe Ltd (RHP AU) 
Software
0.1
Scheme
20%


Rhipe (RHP AU): Crayon Sees Silver in Them Thar Clouds



Spark Infrastructure (SKI AU) 
Utility
3.9
Scheme
26%



Spark Infra (SKI AU): KKR &amp; OTPPB's Tilts Falls Short
Spark Infrastructure (SKI AU): KKR &amp; OTPPB Pay Up




Sydney Airport (SYD AU) 
Airports
17.0
Scheme
42%


Sydney Airports (SYD AU): Opportunistic Tilt Amid Cloudy Future



Youfoodz Holdings (YFZ AU) 
Home delivery
0.1
Scheme
82.4%


Youfoodz (YFZ AU): HelloFresh's Lowball Takeover Offer Difficult to Block But Not UnBumbable



Hong Kong




Beijing Capital Land Ltd H (2868 HK) 
Real Estate
0.4
Merger by Absorption
62.8%


Beijing Capital Land (2868 HK): Delisting Offer From Parent



Nature Home Holding Company (2083 HK) 
Floorboarding
0.1
Scheme
17.2%


Nature Home (2083 HK): Possible Takeover Target Nature Home (2083 HK)'s Full Offer



South Korea




Green Cross Cell (031390 KS) / Green Cross LabCell (144510 KS) 
Biopharmaceutical
1.5
Merger
n.a.


GC Cell - GC LabCell: Korean Biopharma Merger Trading Tight


Source: Smartkarma Insights







The average premium for the new deals announced (or first discussed) in July was ~41%, with a year-to-date average of ~34% (102 deals &amp; total deal size of US$195bn). This compares to the average premium for all deals in 2020 (158 deals) and 2019 (145 deals) of 31% and 31.5% respectively. 
Offer Premium Summary

     




2019


2020


2021 YTD



Australia
33.0%
32.4%
35.2%


Hong Kong
25.2%
34.7%
34.5%


Japan
44.0%
35.2%
28.5%


ROW
29.1%
24.2%
35.3%


Average
31.5%
31.1%
33.5%


Source: Smartkarma Insights 







Summary of News in July of Arb Situations On Smartkarma's Radar



(Again, click on the company names to take to you to the insights and/or discussion posts for a more comprehensive read-through on each situation)





Australia


Comments (with links to announcements &amp; insights)




Altium Ltd (ALU AU) 

20-Jul: Autodesk Inc (ADSK US)'s early June Offer for Altium Ltd (ALU AU) was terminated.




APN Property Group (APD AU) 

27-Jul: All resolutions passed at the Scheme Meeting




Bingo Industries (BIN AU) 

13-Jul: All resolutions passed at the Scheme Meeting




Boral Ltd (BLD AU) 

14-Jul:  Boral's Bump Earned, Likely to Extend, but THEN WHAT? 19-Jul: Boral (BLD AU): Index Impact from Seven's Offer 22-Jul: Boral Ltd: Seven's Done Deal. What Happens Next?
29-Jul: The Seven Group Holdings (SVW AU) Offer for Boral Ltd (BLD AU) was not extended (as announced on 28 Sep). The deal closed yesterday. The resulting ownership is now 69.6%. 




Crown Resorts (CWN AU) 

22-Jul: Star Entertainment Group (SGR AU) walks away from its proposal for Crown Resorts (CWN AU). That's not a good look. 




Galaxy Resources (GXY AU) 

7-Jul: Scheme Booklet dispatched. The Scheme Meeting will be held on the 6 August.




Hansen Technologies (HSN AU) 

16-Jul: Co-operation agreement entered into




Japara Healthcare (JHC AU) 

27-Jul: Japara Healthcare (JHC): Calvary Takes Charge




Mainstream Group Holdings Ltd (MAI AU) 
No July update



Milton Corp Ltd (MLT AU) 

21-Jul: Milton's Marvelous Arb Meanders Along... Marvelously




Think Childcare (TNK AU) 

No July update












Hong Kong


Comments (with links to announcements &amp; insights)




Bestway Global Holding (3358 HK) 

16-Jul: Scheme Doc pushed out to the 31 August. 




China Machinery Engineering (1829 HK) 

6-Jul: CMEC (1829 HK): Circ Out. H-Class Meeting Firmed. Looks Done




China Traditional Chinese Medicine (570 HK) 

9-Jul: In its monthly update regarding a potential Offer, China Traditional Chinese Medicine (570 HK) says there is no update.




China Youzan Limited (8083 HK) 

15-Jul: In its monthly update, China Youzan (8083 HK) said in its monthly update, that there is no update.




Chong Hing Bank (1111 HK) 

30-Jul: Chong Hing Bank (1111 HK): Scheme Doc Out. IFA Says Fair



Kerry Logistics Network (636 HK)
20-Jul: Kerry Logistics Network (636 HK) announced approval by the Independent Shareholders in respect of the Special Deal Agreements and the Framework Services Agreement had been obtained.



Rivera Holdings (281 HK) 

23-Jul: Scheme approved. 




Sichuan Languang Justbon Service (2606 HK) 

15-Jul: Desliting conditions met. Last day of trading is the 9 August. 




Soho China Ltd (410 HK) 

2-Jul: SOHO China (410 HK): Known Knowns As Spread Widens 30-Jul: SOHO China (410 HK): In For a Penny .... 




WH Group (288 HK) 

5-Jul: WH Group - Trading Opportunities Abound 10-Jul: WH Group - Long-Only Fundamental Investors Can Take Advantage Too 30-Jul: WH Group Offer Doc Out - This Little Piggy Went To Market.










India


Comments (with links to insights)




Adani Power (ADANI IN) 

23- Jul: After going limit up today, to INR 101.80/share, Adani Power (ADANI IN) is now back above INR 100/share after having fallen from INR 160. The 1-year deadline to file the Delisting Offer to the Exchange is 23 July. The Exchange would respond within 5 business days if they file. 




Mphasis Ltd (MPHL IN) 

No July update




Vedanta Ltd (VEDL IN) 

No July update









Japan


Comments (with links to announcements &amp; insights)




Aomori Bank (8342 JP) / Michinoku Bank (8350 JP) 
No July update


EPS Holdings (4282 JP)
9-Jul: The bidder for EPS Holdings (4282 JP) now has 86.97%. This will lead us to an EGM and a squeezeout. 



Hitachi Metals (5486 JP) 

No July update




Invesco Office J Reit (3298 JP) 

28-Jul: Invesco Real Estate Deal for Invesco Office (3298) Successful - Now For the Aftermath



Japan Asia (3751 JP)
14-Jul: City Index Eleventh has raised its bid from ¥960/share to ¥970/share. That forces an extension from expected end date tomorrow to the 30th of July. That's why it was raised. He doesn't have enough shares to do what he wants yet. But in raising it, he has gotten the board to agree to recommend his offer, which is something pretty special. 



Locoguide (4497 JP) / Kufu (4399 JP)

9-Jul: Kufu (4399 JP) confirmed on 7th July 2021 that shareholders have voted in favour of the Deal. Locoguide (4497 JP) shareholder vote (which was quite straightforward as the top shareholder held more than two-thirds) was also confirmed on 25th June 2021. Both stocks are expected to be delisted on 29th September 2021. The combined NewCo will be listed on 1st October 2021. 



Maruka Machinery (7594 JP) / Furusato Industries (8087 JP) 
No July update



Oliver Corp (7959 JP) 
No July update



Sakai Ovex (3408 JP) 
27-Jul: Sakai Ovex MBO Reloaded - Up 27% from Last Weak Bump But Still Cheap




Sanshin Electronics (8150 JP) 
No July update



Sawada Holdings (8699 JP) 

3-Jul: Sawada (8699) - Upsilon To End Its Tender, and Khan Bank Applies to List




Secom Co Ltd (9735 JP) 

No July update




Takeei Corp (2151 JP) 

8-Jul: Takeei (2151 JP) - Rever (5690 JP): Shareholder Approvals Complete - Road to TOPIX Upweight Clear




Toshiba Corp (6502 JP) 

20-Jul: Toshiba Corp (6502 JP) Chapter 5: Assessing the Next Move 21-Jul: Toshiba Support Cracked




Yamada Denki (9831 JP) 

No July update












Malaysia


Comments 




IHH Healthcare (IHH MK) 
No July update



Ijm Plantations (IJMP MK) 
No July update



MMC Corp Bhd (MMC MK) 
14-Jul: the Offeror has granted the Company an extension of time to no later than 5.00pm on 30 August 2021 for the Company to respond to the Offeror with its decision as to whether or not to implement and to recommend the Proposed SCR to the Entitled Shareholders for their consideration, based on the terms set out in the SCR Offer Letter.









New Zealand


Comments (&amp; link to insight)




Tilt Renewables Ltd (TLT NZ) 

15-Jul: At the Scheme Meeting,  shareholders representing 91.84% of all Tilt Renewables' shares on issue, voted by proxy or at the meeting. Over 75% of the votes of shareholders in each interest class who were entitled to vote and who voted, were cast in favour of the Scheme. Further, of all the votes cast, 99.94% of votes were in favour of the Scheme.








Singapore


Comments (&amp; link to insight)




Dutech Holdings (DTECH SP) 

15-Jul: Offer price revised to $0.435/share. Offer closes on the 2 August.






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.

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/chong-hing-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:344:1" rel="noopener">Chong Hing Bank (1111 HK)</a>/CHB has despatched the scheme document in relation to a privatisation offer from Yuexiu Holdings, the largest shareholder who holds 74.97% of outstanding shares. The offeror will offer HK$20.80 per scheme share.Unsurprisingly, the IFA considers the offer to be fair and reasonable. We broadly agree with the IFA analysis with the exception that the privatisation precedent comparison could be improved. <div class="content-highlight">The key condition is the scheme approved by at least 75% disinterested shareholders (&lt;10% disinterested shareholders rejection). With no shareholder holding a blocking stake, we continue to believe that the substantial premium of the offer price to long-term average share prices and P/B multiples, makes it likely that the offer gains approval at the court meeting on 30 August (cheques dispatched on or before 7 October). At the current price of HK$20.45 per share, the gross spread to the offer price stands at 1.7%.</div>

Chong Hing Bank (1111 HK)/CHB has despatched the scheme document in relation to a privatisation offer from Yuexiu Holdings, the largest shareholder who holds 74.97% of outstanding shares. The offeror will offer HK$20.80 per scheme share.Unsurprisingly, the IFA considers the offer to be fair and reasonable. We broadly agree with the IFA analysis with the exception that the privatisation precedent comparison could be improved. The key condition is the scheme approved by at least 75% disinterested shareholders (&lt;10% disinterested shareholders rejection). With no shareholder holding a blocking stake, we continue to believe that the substantial premium of the offer price to long-term average share prices and P/B multiples, makes it likely that the offer gains approval at the court meeting on 30 August (cheques dispatched on or before 7 October). At the current price of HK$20.45 per share, the gross spread to the offer price stands at 1.7%.

Chong Hing’s Scheme Document, IFA Opinion

Hong Kong

Chong Hing Bank Limited provides banking and related services.  It operates branches in Hong Kong, China, and the United States.

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Chong Hing Bank (1111 HK)

Hang Seng Bank – Wuihfung Remains In Full Control

HANG SENG BANK: Hang Seng reported a poor 1H21 HOH operating result. If provisions didn't decline 65%, results would have been worse. It under...

Thomas J. Monaco

DBS Group Holdings – Bad Print

DBS: DBS QOQ 2Q21 results declined 15.1% due to poor revenues and higher provisions. We worry that DBS has not caught the LVB risk, net new NPLs re...

Thomas J. Monaco

Last Week in Event SPACE: SOHO China, Invesco Office, Iress, WH Group, PCCW

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a coffee, grab a comfortable seat, and sift through a brief summary of insights on various events discussed...

David Blennerhassett

(Mostly) Asia M&A: July 2021 Roundup

The average premium for new deals announced (or first discussed) in July was ~41%, with a YTD average of ~34%. This compares to the average premium...

David Blennerhassett

Chong Hing’s Scheme Document, IFA Opinion

We broadly agree with the IFA analysis with the exception that the privatisation precedent comparison could be improved. The proposal will likely...

Arun George

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