Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we present our first cut at the KOSPI 200 rebalance in March and June 2022. </li>
<li>The most likely new inclusion on the KOSPI 200 index in March could be LG Energy Solution, which is getting ready for an IPO in Korea in January 2022.</li>
<li>We also provide a list of 10 companies for exclusion and 4 companies for inclusion in the June 2022 KOSPI 200 rebalance. </li>
</ul>


In this insight, we present our first cut at the KOSPI 200 rebalance in March and June 2022. 
The most likely new inclusion on the KOSPI 200 index in March could be LG Energy Solution, which is getting ready for an IPO in Korea in January 2022.
We also provide a list of 10 companies for exclusion and 4 companies for inclusion in the June 2022 KOSPI 200 rebalance. 


KOSPI 200 Rebalance In March (LG Energy Solution) & June 2022

Equity Capital Markets

<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)

KOSPI 200 Rebalance In March (LG Energy Solution) & June 2022

We present our first cut at the KOSPI 200 rebalance in March and June 2022. We also provide a list of 10 companies for exclusion and 4 companies...

Douglas Kim

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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