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

Life Insurance Corporation of India / Equity Capital Markets

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI IN)

<ul>
<li>Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.</li>
<li>This week we looked at the South Korean SK twins that are looking to list. In addition, LIC appears to be testing waters again.</li>
<li>Placement flows slowed down a bit with the mid-week HK holiday, although Australia and India blocks have continued to flow-in.</li>
</ul>


Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.
This week we looked at the South Korean SK twins that are looking to list. In addition, LIC appears to be testing waters again.
Placement flows slowed down a bit with the mid-week HK holiday, although Australia and India blocks have continued to flow-in.


ECM Weekly (10th Apr 2022)- LIC, GoTo, Shieldus, One Store, China ADRs, Air NZ, Chrysos, Zhihu

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/gaeasoft" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12164:1" rel="noopener">Gaeasoft (051160 KS)</a> is a very interesting small cap stock in Korea that is worth further study. Gaeasoft currently has a market cap of 351 billion won. Gaesoft owns a 79.4% in a private company called Oasis Corp ("Oasis Market"), which operates an e-commerce platform for eco-friendly organic food products. In early July, <a href="https://www.kedglobal.com/newsView/ked202107070008" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oasis Corp</a> received a 50 billion won investment from a private equity firm called Unison Capital, which put the valuation of the company at 750 billion won, up from the valuation of 315 billion won Oasis Corp received in March 2021.<div class="content-highlight">
In our view, the value of Oasis Corp is likely to increase to nearly 1.5 trillion won over the next 12 months, doubling in the valuation from July 2021. If Oasis Corp is valued at 1.5 trillion won, a 79.4% stake would be worth 1.2 trillion won, which would be 239% higher than Gaesoft's market cap. 
Oasis Corp's major competitors include SSG.com, Kurly, and Coupang. Similar to its competitors, Oasis Corp has experienced strong growth in sales. Unlike its competitors, Oasis Corp is already profitable. 
</div>

Gaeasoft (051160 KS) is a very interesting small cap stock in Korea that is worth further study. Gaeasoft currently has a market cap of 351 billion won. Gaesoft owns a 79.4% in a private company called Oasis Corp ("Oasis Market"), which operates an e-commerce platform for eco-friendly organic food products. In early July, Oasis Corp received a 50 billion won investment from a private equity firm called Unison Capital, which put the valuation of the company at 750 billion won, up from the valuation of 315 billion won Oasis Corp received in March 2021.
In our view, the value of Oasis Corp is likely to increase to nearly 1.5 trillion won over the next 12 months, doubling in the valuation from July 2021. If Oasis Corp is valued at 1.5 trillion won, a 79.4% stake would be worth 1.2 trillion won, which would be 239% higher than Gaesoft's market cap. 
Oasis Corp's major competitors include SSG.com, Kurly, and Coupang. Similar to its competitors, Oasis Corp has experienced strong growth in sales. Unlike its competitors, Oasis Corp is already profitable. 


Korea Small Cap Gem #10: Gaeasoft - Its Stake in Oasis May Be At Least 200% Higher Than Its Mkt Cap

In this insight, we compare the key financials and metrics of Kurly versus SSG.com. Kurly is a leading fresh food e-commerce company in Korea. Kurly is preparing for an IPO (most likely in the US) in 2H 2021. SSG.com is the e-commerce platform of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/e-mart-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6993:1" rel="noopener">E Mart Inc (139480 KS)</a>. SSG.com is also an IPO candidate but its IPO is more likely in 2022/2023. After the hugely successful IPO of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/coupang" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28425:1" rel="noopener">Coupang (CPNG US)</a>, there has been a lot more interest in the competitors of Coupang that could also be the next IPO candidates. <a href="http://www.naeil.com/news_view/?id_art=382075" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kurly</a> has selected Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan as its lead underwriters for the IPO listing in the US in 2H 2021. Kurly's founder &amp; CEO Kim Seul-Ah is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker. Kim Jong-Hoon, the CFO of Kurly, worked previously at Morgan Stanley. <div class="content-highlight">Attaching lower valuation multiples for Kurly (5x to 10x P/GP, using 2020 figures, which would be much lower than Kurly's P/GP ratio of 29.5x at $4.4 billion valuation), this would suggest potential valuation of 3.1 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) to 6.0 trillion won (US$5.4 billion) for SSG.com. Given that Emart has a 50.1% stake in SSG.com, this would represent a 32% and 65% in Emart's market cap, respectively. </div>

In this insight, we compare the key financials and metrics of Kurly versus SSG.com. Kurly is a leading fresh food e-commerce company in Korea. Kurly is preparing for an IPO (most likely in the US) in 2H 2021. SSG.com is the e-commerce platform of E Mart Inc (139480 KS). SSG.com is also an IPO candidate but its IPO is more likely in 2022/2023. After the hugely successful IPO of Coupang (CPNG US), there has been a lot more interest in the competitors of Coupang that could also be the next IPO candidates. Kurly has selected Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan as its lead underwriters for the IPO listing in the US in 2H 2021. Kurly's founder &amp; CEO Kim Seul-Ah is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker. Kim Jong-Hoon, the CFO of Kurly, worked previously at Morgan Stanley. Attaching lower valuation multiples for Kurly (5x to 10x P/GP, using 2020 figures, which would be much lower than Kurly's P/GP ratio of 29.5x at $4.4 billion valuation), this would suggest potential valuation of 3.1 trillion won (US$2.7 billion) to 6.0 trillion won (US$5.4 billion) for SSG.com. Given that Emart has a 50.1% stake in SSG.com, this would represent a 32% and 65% in Emart's market cap, respectively. 

2020 Financials Comparison of Kurly Vs SSG.Com (IPO Candidates in 2021 & 2022)

<div class="content-highlight">The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/coupang" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28425:1" rel="noopener">Coupang (CPNG US)</a> IPO has been one of the most successful IPOs for a company whose operations are mainly in Korea. There are likely to be a lot more Korean based companies (both public and private) that will consider listing their shares in the US market after a hugely successfully Coupang IPO. In this insight, we discuss 14 major Korean companies that may try to list their shares in the US exchanges in the next several years in order to reduce the infamous "Korea discount."</div>14 Korean Companies That May List Their Shares in the US Stock Exchange:<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/samsung-electronics-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:191:1" rel="noopener">1) Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)</a>2) Kurly (Private)3) SmartStudy (Private)4) Naver Webtoon (Private) 5) Krafton (Private) 6) LG Energy Solution (Private) 7) 11st (Private) 8) SSG.com (Private) 9) <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ncsoft-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5169:1" rel="noopener">NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS)</a>10) <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/naver-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16029:1" rel="noopener">Naver Corp (035420 KS)</a>11) Kakao Entertainment (Private)  12) <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a>13) Tmon (Private) 14) Non private equity firm that acquires Ebay Korea

The Coupang (CPNG US) IPO has been one of the most successful IPOs for a company whose operations are mainly in Korea. There are likely to be a lot more Korean based companies (both public and private) that will consider listing their shares in the US market after a hugely successfully Coupang IPO. In this insight, we discuss 14 major Korean companies that may try to list their shares in the US exchanges in the next several years in order to reduce the infamous "Korea discount."14 Korean Companies That May List Their Shares in the US Stock Exchange:1) Samsung Electronics (005930 KS)2) Kurly (Private)3) SmartStudy (Private)4) Naver Webtoon (Private) 5) Krafton (Private) 6) LG Energy Solution (Private) 7) 11st (Private) 8) SSG.com (Private) 9) NCSOFT Corp (036570 KS)10) Naver Corp (035420 KS)11) Kakao Entertainment (Private)  12) Kakao Corp (035720 KS)13) Tmon (Private) 14) Non private equity firm that acquires Ebay Korea 

Top 14 Korean Companies That May List in the US Stock Exchanges - Close The "Korea Discount Gap"

Private Capital Markets

Wemakeprice Inc / Private Capital Markets

In this insight, we provide an in-depth analysis of WeMakePrice, which is a leading e-commerce platform in Korea. Nexon Korea is one of the major investors of the company. Currently, WeMakeprice is the fourth most widely used mobile shopping app in Korea, behind Coupang, Danggeun Market, and 11st.Back in August 2015, NXC Corp (the holding company of the Nexon Group) and IMM Investments invested 100 billion won and 6 billion won in Wemakeprice, respectively. Four years later in October 2019, <a href="http://m.theinvestor.co.kr/view.php?ud=20191010000661" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WeMakePrice</a> (Wonder Holdings) received an additiona<a href="http://plus.hankyung.com/apps/newsinside.view?aid=201912185833i" target="_blank" rel="noopener">l 370 billion won</a> from existing investors including Nexon Korea (250 billion won) and IMM Investment (120 billion won). As of 2019, WeMakePrice was valued at about 2.5 trillion won.WeMakePrice's key strategy is the low pricing as it tries to provide the lowest prices for many of its products sold on its platform. WeMakePrice consistently tries to provide slightly lower prices for the products than its leading competitors such as Coupang. On April 16th, 2020, WeMakePrice introduced the "lowest prices on the Internet" for nearly<a href="https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20200416053000030?input=1195m" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 0.72 million products. </a>

In this insight, we provide an in-depth analysis of WeMakePrice, which is a leading e-commerce platform in Korea. Nexon Korea is one of the major investors of the company. Currently, WeMakeprice is the fourth most widely used mobile shopping app in Korea, behind Coupang, Danggeun Market, and 11st.Back in August 2015, NXC Corp (the holding company of the Nexon Group) and IMM Investments invested 100 billion won and 6 billion won in Wemakeprice, respectively. Four years later in October 2019, WeMakePrice (Wonder Holdings) received an additional 370 billion won from existing investors including Nexon Korea (250 billion won) and IMM Investment (120 billion won). As of 2019, WeMakePrice was valued at about 2.5 trillion won.WeMakePrice's key strategy is the low pricing as it tries to provide the lowest prices for many of its products sold on its platform. WeMakePrice consistently tries to provide slightly lower prices for the products than its leading competitors such as Coupang. On April 16th, 2020, WeMakePrice introduced the "lowest prices on the Internet" for nearly 0.72 million products. 

WeMakePrice - What's Next After Major Investment by Nexon Korea?

South Korea

Kurly Inc. wholesales and distributes food products. The Company wholesales and distributes fresh food, processed food, and other related products. Kurly markets its products throughout South Korea.

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Kurly Inc (1653187D KS)

ECM Weekly (10th Apr 2022)- LIC, GoTo, Shieldus, One Store, China ADRs, Air NZ, Chrysos, Zhihu

Aequitas Research puts out a weekly update on the deals that were covered by the team recently along with updates for upcoming IPOs.

Sumeet Singh

Korea Small Cap Gem #10: Gaeasoft - Its Stake in Oasis May Be At Least 200% Higher Than Its Mkt Cap

Gaeasoft (051160 KS) owns a 79.4% in a private company called Oasis Corp which operates an e-commerce platform for eco-friendly, organic food...

Douglas Kim

2020 Financials Comparison of Kurly Vs SSG.Com (IPO Candidates in 2021 & 2022)

In this insight, we compare the key financials and metrics of Kurly versus SSG.com. Kurly is preparing for an IPO (most likely in the US) in 2H 2021.

Douglas Kim

Top 14 Korean Companies That May List in the US Stock Exchanges - Close The "Korea Discount Gap"

In this insight, we discuss 14 major Korean companies that may try to list their shares in the US exchanges in the next several years in order to...

Douglas Kim

WeMakePrice - What's Next After Major Investment by Nexon Korea?

In this insight, we provide an in-depth analysis of WeMakePrice, which is a leading e-commerce platform in Korea. Nexon Korea is one of the major...

Douglas Kim

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