Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>After the market close on 16 January, it was reported that Align Partners started to go activist on Coway Co Ltd (021240 KS).</li>
<li>Align Partners sent a public letter to Coway demanding improvements to shareholder returns and measures to enhance the independence of the board of directors.</li>
<li>The combination of higher shareholder returns, low valuations, and Align Partners putting further activist pressure are likely to lead to continued outperformance of Coway relative to KOSPI this year. </li>
</ul>


After the market close on 16 January, it was reported that Align Partners started to go activist on Coway Co Ltd (021240 KS).
Align Partners sent a public letter to Coway demanding improvements to shareholder returns and measures to enhance the independence of the board of directors.
The combination of higher shareholder returns, low valuations, and Align Partners putting further activist pressure are likely to lead to continued outperformance of Coway relative to KOSPI this year. 


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.

<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shift-up-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:36232:1" rel="noopener">Shift Up (462870 KS)</a> raised around US$320m in its South Korean IPO, after pricing at the top. Around US$1.2bn worth of shares will be released from their lockup soon.</li>
<li>Shift Up is a South Korean games developer, which as released three games so far for the global markets.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.</li>
</ul>



Shift Up (462870 KS) raised around US$320m in its South Korean IPO, after pricing at the top. Around US$1.2bn worth of shares will be released from their lockup soon.
Shift Up is a South Korean games developer, which as released three games so far for the global markets.
In this note, we will talk about the lockup dynamics and possible placement.


Shift Up IPO Lockup - US$1.2bn Lockup Release of Strategic, Employees and IPO Investors

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Com2Us's net cash (including long-term financial investments) is 151% of its market cap. It is trading at P/B ratio of only 0.45x. </li>
<li>The company paid out 2,600 won in DPS in FY23. If we assume the same DPS, this would suggest a dividend yield of 6.7% at current price of 38,900 won. </li>
<li>Com2Us is a turnaround story. It had an operating profit of 1.2 billion won in 1Q 2024, improving from an operating loss of 13.3 billion won in 1Q 2023. </li>
</ul>


Com2Us's net cash (including long-term financial investments) is 151% of its market cap. It is trading at P/B ratio of only 0.45x. 
The company paid out 2,600 won in DPS in FY23. If we assume the same DPS, this would suggest a dividend yield of 6.7% at current price of 38,900 won. 
Com2Us is a turnaround story. It had an operating profit of 1.2 billion won in 1Q 2024, improving from an operating loss of 13.3 billion won in 1Q 2023. 


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.

<ul>
<li>This block deal has an unusual PSR (price swap return) contract at ₩58,200, the July 10th closing price, likely preventing Netmarble's typical stock price correction today.</li>
<li>In 2022, a similar-sized local PSR transaction involved Doosan Bobcat Inc, with 9.9 million shares and a PSR swap price of ₩37,500.</li>
<li>As for Doosan Bobcat, the stock initially dropped but rebounded near the PSR swap price, prompting local brokerages, focused on PSR fee income, to sell rather than realize capital gains.</li>
</ul>


This block deal has an unusual PSR (price swap return) contract at ₩58,200, the July 10th closing price, likely preventing Netmarble's typical stock price correction today.
In 2022, a similar-sized local PSR transaction involved Doosan Bobcat Inc, with 9.9 million shares and a PSR swap price of ₩37,500.
As for Doosan Bobcat, the stock initially dropped but rebounded near the PSR swap price, prompting local brokerages, focused on PSR fee income, to sell rather than realize capital gains.


Trading Setup Targeting the Netmarble PSR Contract, as Seen in the Case of Doosan Bobcat

Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>In this insight, we discuss a trading strategy for Shift Up which starts trading on 11 July. Shift Up is one of the most anticipated IPOs in Korea this year.</li>
<li>Our base case (6 months - 1 year) target price of Shift Up is 95,510 won, which is 59% higher than the IPO price.</li>
<li><em><strong>We recommend investors to take some profits (about 50% of invested capital) if the share price shoots higher by 100% or more from the IPO price on the first day. </strong></em></li>
</ul>


In this insight, we discuss a trading strategy for Shift Up which starts trading on 11 July. Shift Up is one of the most anticipated IPOs in Korea this year.
Our base case (6 months - 1 year) target price of Shift Up is 95,510 won, which is 59% higher than the IPO price.
We recommend investors to take some profits (about 50% of invested capital) if the share price shoots higher by 100% or more from the IPO price on the first day. 


Trading Strategy of Shift Up on the First Day of IPO

South Korea

Netmarble Corporation develops and publishes mobile games. The Company develops and publishes casual games, action, sports games, strategy, simulation games, and social casino games. Netmarble offers services worldwide.

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Netmarble (251270 KS)

Align Partners Goes Activist on Coway

After the market close on 16 January, it was reported that Align Partners started to go activist on Coway Co Ltd (021240 KS).

Douglas Kim

Shift Up IPO Lockup - US$1.2bn Lockup Release of Strategic, Employees and IPO Investors

Shift Up (462870 KS) raised around US$320m in its South Korean IPO, after pricing at the top. Around US$1.2bn worth of shares will be released from...

Sumeet Singh

Korea Small Cap Gem #29: Com2Us

Com2Us's net cash (including long-term financial investments) is 151% of its market cap. Com2Us is a turnaround story. It had an operating profit...

Douglas Kim

Trading Setup Targeting the Netmarble PSR Contract, as Seen in the Case of Doosan Bobcat

This post discusses trade setups targetting the Netmarble PSR contract, disclosed yesterday by CJ ENM, drawing parallels from the Doosan Bobcat...

Sanghyun Park

Trading Strategy of Shift Up on the First Day of IPO

Shift Up starts trading on 11 July. We recommend investors to take some profits (about 50% of invested capital) if the share price shoots higher by...

Douglas Kim

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