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>Local traders size up borrowing balances by comparing them to free-float shares, using KRX data for consistency. While not always exact, it’s the go-to reference for most traders.</li>
<li>They usually watch for borrowing balances crossing 3% of float, triggering price action. With short selling back, many are now bumping that threshold to 4%.</li>
<li>Borrowing balance structures differ between large and small/mid-caps. Traders use a 1 trillion KRW market cap threshold to split them, aligning with TMI indices for long/short setups.</li>
</ul>


Local traders size up borrowing balances by comparing them to free-float shares, using KRX data for consistency. While not always exact, it’s the go-to reference for most traders.
They usually watch for borrowing balances crossing 3% of float, triggering price action. With short selling back, many are now bumping that threshold to 4%.
Borrowing balance structures differ between large and small/mid-caps. Traders use a 1 trillion KRW market cap threshold to split them, aligning with TMI indices for long/short setups.


How to Clean Up Korea’s Borrowing Balance Stats

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

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dn-solutions" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44474:1" rel="noopener">DN Solutions (298440 KS)</a> (DNS) aims to raise around US$1.1bn in its Korea IPO via selling a mix of primary and secondary shares.</li>
<li>DNS is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine tools and the business of automation solutions and services related thereto.</li>
<li>We have looked at its past performance in our earlier notes. In this note, we will undertake a peer comparison.</li>
</ul>



DN Solutions (298440 KS) (DNS) aims to raise around US$1.1bn in its Korea IPO via selling a mix of primary and secondary shares.
DNS is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine tools and the business of automation solutions and services related thereto.
We have looked at its past performance in our earlier notes. In this note, we will undertake a peer comparison.


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.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dn-solutions" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44474:1" rel="noopener">DN Solutions (298440 KS)</a>, the third-largest machining centre/turning centre machine tool manufacturer, seeks to raise US$1.1 billion in a KRX IPO.</li>
<li>In <em><strong><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dn-solutions-ipo-the-bull-case" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:180468" rel="noopener">DN Solutions IPO: The Bull Case</a></strong></em>, we highlighted the key elements of the bull case. In this note, we outline the bear case.</li>
<li>The bear case rests on tepid growth due to volume declines, early indications of margin pressure, rising cash conversion cycle, and mid-tier FCF margin.</li>
</ul>



DN Solutions (298440 KS), the third-largest machining centre/turning centre machine tool manufacturer, seeks to raise US$1.1 billion in a KRX IPO.
In DN Solutions IPO: The Bull Case, we highlighted the key elements of the bull case. In this note, we outline the bear case.
The bear case rests on tepid growth due to volume declines, early indications of margin pressure, rising cash conversion cycle, and mid-tier FCF margin.


<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dn-solutions" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:44474:1" rel="noopener">DN Solutions (298440 KS)</a>, the third-largest machining centre/turning centre machine tool manufacturer, seeks to raise US$1.1 billion in a KRX IPO.   </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dn-automotive-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20840:1" rel="noopener">DN Automotive (007340 KS)</a> is the largest shareholder, representing 84.8% of outstanding shares. The primary/secondary split is 43%/57%.</li>
<li>The bull case rests on the market share gains, high barriers to entry, healthy forward revenue indicators, a return to growth, and top-tier EBIT margin.</li>
</ul>



DN Solutions (298440 KS), the third-largest machining centre/turning centre machine tool manufacturer, seeks to raise US$1.1 billion in a KRX IPO.   

DN Automotive (007340 KS) is the largest shareholder, representing 84.8% of outstanding shares. The primary/secondary split is 43%/57%.
The bull case rests on the market share gains, high barriers to entry, healthy forward revenue indicators, a return to growth, and top-tier EBIT margin.


Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

<ul>
<li>Our base case valuation of DN Solutions suggests target price of 90,167 won per share, which is 1% higher than the high end of the IPO price range. </li>
<li>Our base case valuation is based on 17.9x P/E using our estimated net profit of 317.9 billion won for DN Solutions in 2025. </li>
<li>Given the lack of upside, we have a Negative View of this IPO. DN Solutions has higher operating margin and ROE but lower revenue growth than its comps. </li>
</ul>


Our base case valuation of DN Solutions suggests target price of 90,167 won per share, which is 1% higher than the high end of the IPO price range. 
Our base case valuation is based on 17.9x P/E using our estimated net profit of 317.9 billion won for DN Solutions in 2025. 
Given the lack of upside, we have a Negative View of this IPO. DN Solutions has higher operating margin and ROE but lower revenue growth than its comps. 


South Korea

LS Electric Co., Ltd. manufactures and distributes electrical power equipment. The Company produces smart power equipment, smart automation equipment, smart railway equipment, and other related products. LS Electric also develops smart grid, micro grid, energy storage systems, and metal products.

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LS Electric (010120 KS)

How to Clean Up Korea’s Borrowing Balance Stats

This post looks at how to clean up the borrowing balance stats and filter out noise to make the stats actionable for our trades.

Sanghyun Park

DN Solutions Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison

DN Solutions (298440 KS) (DNS) aims to raise around US$1.1bn in its Korea IPO via selling a mix of primary and secondary shares. In this note, we...

Sumeet Singh

DN Solutions IPO: The Bear Case

The bear case rests on tepid growth due to volume declines, early indications of margin pressure, rising cash conversion cycle, and mid-tier FCF...

Arun George

DN Solutions IPO: The Bull Case

The bull case rests on the market share gains, high barriers to entry, healthy forward revenue indicators, a return to growth, and top-tier EBIT...

Arun George

DN Solutions IPO Valuation Analysis

Our base case valuation of DN Solutions suggests target price of 90,167 won per share, which is 1% higher than the high end of the IPO price range....

Douglas Kim

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