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/trial-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36821:1" rel="noopener">Trial Holdings (5882 JP)</a> is looking to raise around US$375m in its Japan IPO.</li>
<li>TH operates a network of retail stores that offer one-stop shopping under its everyday low price model, across a variety of daily necessities, food items and other products.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the not-so-positive aspects of the deal.</li>
</ul>



Trial Holdings (5882 JP) is looking to raise around US$375m in its Japan IPO.
TH operates a network of retail stores that offer one-stop shopping under its everyday low price model, across a variety of daily necessities, food items and other products.
In this note, we will talk about the not-so-positive aspects of the deal.


Trial Holdings Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Wafer-Thin Margins

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-bank-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:35638:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten Bank</a>, the online banking arm of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten Inc (4755 JP)</a>, aims to raise around US$500m (estimated) in its Japan listing in April 2023. </li>
<li>RB is the largest internet bank in Japan, by number of accounts. As of Mar 2023, it had 13.39m deposit accounts with a total deposit base of JPY8.6tn. </li>
<li>In this note we take an early look at the IPO and talk about the not-so-positive aspects of its past performance.</li>
</ul>



Rakuten Bank, the online banking arm of Rakuten Inc (4755 JP), aims to raise around US$500m (estimated) in its Japan listing in April 2023. 
RB is the largest internet bank in Japan, by number of accounts. As of Mar 2023, it had 13.39m deposit accounts with a total deposit base of JPY8.6tn. 
In this note we take an early look at the IPO and talk about the not-so-positive aspects of its past performance.


Rakuten Bank IPO Early Look - The Negatives - Is Already Slowing Down

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Komehyo, the secondhand retailer, opened a new flagship last month on Chuo-dori in Ginza, replacing a less visible store. </li>
<li>The company expects to sell ¥3 billion a year in the 500 sqm store, which should be feasible given the return of inbound tourists, but the company continues to underperform.</li>
<li>Competitors are circling too, with their own upscale stores and online rivals are also growing fast.</li>
</ul>


Komehyo, the secondhand retailer, opened a new flagship last month on Chuo-dori in Ginza, replacing a less visible store. 
The company expects to sell ¥3 billion a year in the 500 sqm store, which should be feasible given the return of inbound tourists, but the company continues to underperform.
Competitors are circling too, with their own upscale stores and online rivals are also growing fast.


Komehyo New Ginza Flagship Opens as Tourists Return

Index Rebal/Special Situations, Quiddity Advisors

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Index Rebal/Special Situations

Quiddity Advisors

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation. </li>
<li>For companies with "low liquidity" the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation. </li>
<li>Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE. In this insight, we take an early look at what could happen in April 2023.</li>
</ul>


The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation. 
For companies with "low liquidity" the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation. 
Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE. In this insight, we take an early look at what could happen in April 2023.


TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of "The Big April Basket" 2023

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>The review period for the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nikkei-225" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22909:1" rel="noopener">Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX)</a> March rebalance ends next week. We highlight the 3 potential inclusions and exclusions for the index.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lasertec-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4126:1" rel="noopener">Lasertec Corp (6920)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/oriental-land-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13517:1" rel="noopener">Oriental Land (4661)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/renesas-electronics-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15933:1" rel="noopener">Renesas Electronics (6723)</a> remain our top inclusions, while <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toyobo-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6187:1" rel="noopener">Toyobo Co Ltd (3101)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nippon-light-metal-holdings" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1485:1" rel="noopener">Nippon Light Metal (5703)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/toho-zinc-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2796:1" rel="noopener">Toho Zinc (5707)</a> could be deleted.</li>
<li>Due to the large size difference between the potential adds/deletes, there will be a large funding trade with passive trackers needing to sell over 1x ADV on many index constituents.</li>
</ul>


The review period for the Nikkei 225 (NKY INDEX) March rebalance ends next week. We highlight the 3 potential inclusions and exclusions for the index.

Lasertec Corp (6920), Oriental Land (4661) and Renesas Electronics (6723) remain our top inclusions, while Toyobo Co Ltd (3101), Nippon Light Metal (5703) and Toho Zinc (5707) could be deleted.
Due to the large size difference between the potential adds/deletes, there will be a large funding trade with passive trackers needing to sell over 1x ADV on many index constituents.


Nikkei 225 Index Rebalance Preview (March): Potential Changes as Review Period Nears End

Japan

Mercari, Inc. operates as an electronic commercial company. The Company offers electronic commercial software, operation management, marketing planning, and other marketplace services. Mercari serves customers worldwide.

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Mercari (4385 JP)

Trial Holdings Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Wafer-Thin Margins

Trial Holdings (5882 JP) is looking to raise around US$375m in its Japan IPO. In this note, we talk about the not-so-positive aspects of the deal.

Sumeet Singh

Rakuten Bank IPO Early Look - The Negatives - Is Already Slowing Down

Rakuten Bank, the online banking arm of Rakuten Inc (4755 JP), aims to raise around US$500m in its Japan listing in April 2023. In this note, we...

Sumeet Singh

Komehyo New Ginza Flagship Opens as Tourists Return

Komehyo's new Ginza flagship is timely and should benefit from high domestic demand for luxury goods as well as a resurgent inbound trade. The...

Michael Causton

TOPIX Index Upweights: An Early Preview Of "The Big April Basket" 2023

Daiei Kankyo, Socionext, Sun* , Mercari, Loadstar Capital, Bewith, Medley, and Appier Group are our high-conviction names that could see their...

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Nikkei 225 Index Rebalance Preview (March): Potential Changes as Review Period Nears End

With a week left in the review period, we revisit the potential NKY changes in March & highlight top add/delete candidates. There will be a large...

Brian Freitas

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