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.

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The next policy swing is mandatory tender offers (MTO), with the gov’t + ruling party pushing for passage this session, likely alongside the mandatory treasury-share cancellation.</li>
<li>2022 FSS/FSC 50%+1 trigger scrapped; 25% stays. Ruling party favors 50%+ MTO, base case 100%, but pushback may reduce to 70–80%.</li>
<li>MTOs tighten discounts, benefit minority holders; focus on local holding firms, PE-backed exits, and parent-driven M&amp;A prospects.</li>
</ul>


The next policy swing is mandatory tender offers (MTO), with the gov’t + ruling party pushing for passage this session, likely alongside the mandatory treasury-share cancellation.
2022 FSS/FSC 50%+1 trigger scrapped; 25% stays. Ruling party favors 50%+ MTO, base case 100%, but pushback may reduce to 70–80%.
MTOs tighten discounts, benefit minority holders; focus on local holding firms, PE-backed exits, and parent-driven M&amp;A prospects.


Korea's 4th Policy Trade Is Right Around the Corner: Mandatory Tender Offers

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>We discuss the importance of Hyundai Motor generating nearly 11.5 trillion won in operating profit in 2023, which is likely to be the highest among all Korean companies. </li>
<li>Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp combined are expected to generate operating profit of 20.7 trillion won in 2023, representing 57% of total operating profit of the top 10 Korean companies.</li>
<li>In 2023, Hyundai Motor plans a full-scale world-wide roll-out of its EV Ioniq 6. Furthermore, it set a dividend payout ratio at 25% or higher.</li>
</ul>


We discuss the importance of Hyundai Motor generating nearly 11.5 trillion won in operating profit in 2023, which is likely to be the highest among all Korean companies. 
Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp combined are expected to generate operating profit of 20.7 trillion won in 2023, representing 57% of total operating profit of the top 10 Korean companies.
In 2023, Hyundai Motor plans a full-scale world-wide roll-out of its EV Ioniq 6. Furthermore, it set a dividend payout ratio at 25% or higher.


Hyundai Motor: Highest Operating Profit Among All Korean Companies in 2023

Douglas Research Advisory

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>On 28 November, the Korean National Assembly reached an agreement on a tax reform plan to officially lower taxes on dividends income. </li>
<li>The decline in tax on dividends is a definite step in the right direction. Nonetheless, the top bracket dividend tax rate cut was slightly less than what market was expecting. </li>
<li>Given that about 15%-25% dividend tax rates are more common in other developed countries,  Korea's reduction of dividend taxes is likely to be welcomed highly by many global investors.</li>
</ul>


On 28 November, the Korean National Assembly reached an agreement on a tax reform plan to officially lower taxes on dividends income. 
The decline in tax on dividends is a definite step in the right direction. Nonetheless, the top bracket dividend tax rate cut was slightly less than what market was expecting. 
Given that about 15%-25% dividend tax rates are more common in other developed countries,  Korea's reduction of dividend taxes is likely to be welcomed highly by many global investors.


Top Bracket Dividend Tax Rate Lowered to 30% in Korea [Moderately Positive]

<ul>
<li>Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hyun-jung has introduced a revised Income Tax Act that would lower the top tax rate on dividend income from 35% to 25%.</li>
<li>Given that this proposal is coming from the ruling Democratic Party, there is a fairly high probability that this could be passed into law in 3Q 2025.</li>
<li>We provide a list of 28 mid-cap/large cap stocks in Korea with more than 35% dividend payout and 3% or more dividend yield that could benefit from this new proposal.</li>
</ul>


Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hyun-jung has introduced a revised Income Tax Act that would lower the top tax rate on dividend income from 35% to 25%.
Given that this proposal is coming from the ruling Democratic Party, there is a fairly high probability that this could be passed into law in 3Q 2025.
We provide a list of 28 mid-cap/large cap stocks in Korea with more than 35% dividend payout and 3% or more dividend yield that could benefit from this new proposal.


Separate Dividend Tax Plan in Korea: A Push for a 25% Rate for Top Bracket

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Akshat Shah

APAC 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

Lotte Global Logistics / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lotte-global-logistics-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:45000:1" rel="noopener">Lotte Global Logistics (LGG KS)</a> aims to raise around US$140m in its Korea IPO via selling a mix of primary and secondary shares.</li>
<li>Lotte Global Logistics is a logistics and shipping company engaged in a comprehensive logistics service business including courier service, land transportation, 3PL, port loading and unloading, and international logistics.</li>
<li>In our previous note, we looked at the firm’s past performance. In this note, we talk about the IPO valuations.</li>
</ul>



Lotte Global Logistics (LGG KS) aims to raise around US$140m in its Korea IPO via selling a mix of primary and secondary shares.
Lotte Global Logistics is a logistics and shipping company engaged in a comprehensive logistics service business including courier service, land transportation, 3PL, port loading and unloading, and international logistics.
In our previous note, we looked at the firm’s past performance. In this note, we talk about the IPO valuations.


Lotte Global Logistics IPO - Thoughts on Peer Comp and Valuation

South Korea

Lotte Rental Co.,Ltd. provides car rental services. The Company offers passenger car rental, commercial car rental, used vehicle rental, and other related services. Lotte Rental offers services worldwide.

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Lotte Rental (089860 KS)

Korea's 4th Policy Trade Is Right Around the Corner: Mandatory Tender Offers

This post looks into Korea’s 4th policy narrative, focusing on the rise of mandatory tender offers as a key market driver.

Sanghyun Park

Hyundai Motor: Highest Operating Profit Among All Korean Companies in 2023

In this insight, we discuss the importance of Hyundai Motor generating nearly 11.5 trillion won in operating profit in 2023, which is likely to be...

Douglas Kim

Top Bracket Dividend Tax Rate Lowered to 30% in Korea [Moderately Positive]

On 28 November, the Korean National Assembly reached an agreement on a tax reform plan to officially lower taxes on dividends income.

Douglas Kim

Separate Dividend Tax Plan in Korea: A Push for a 25% Rate for Top Bracket

The final decision to lower top bracket dividend tax from 35% to 25% could be made in the next several days. There have been increasing local news...

Douglas Kim

Lotte Global Logistics IPO - Thoughts on Peer Comp and Valuation

Lotte Global Logistics aims to raise around US$140m in its Korea IPO via selling a mix of primary and secondary shares. In this note, we talk about...

Akshat Shah

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