Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>Now that Lee Jae-Myung has become new South Korean President, the uncertainty revolving who will lead South Korea in the next five years is now over.</li>
<li>In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the market for the remainder of 2025.</li>
<li>The four investment themes include Korean Holdcos/Quasi Holdcos, Korean Cultural Contents, Securities, and SK Group Companies.</li>
</ul>


Now that Lee Jae-Myung has become new South Korean President, the uncertainty revolving who will lead South Korea in the next five years is now over.
In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the market for the remainder of 2025.
The four investment themes include Korean Holdcos/Quasi Holdcos, Korean Cultural Contents, Securities, and SK Group Companies.


Lee Jae-Myung Becomes the New South Korean President - Four Investment Themes That Could Outperform

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>Government aims to sell 30.6% NXC stake by 2027 for ₩4T tax revenue, offering NXC a buyback or selling with management control to attract bidders.</li>
<li>The family won’t buy back the 30.6% stake but may allow partial management rights, with Tencent eyeing that stake—not a full $15B Nexon buyout as Bloomberg suggested.</li>
<li>Tencent’s targeting that stake chunk only, no control shift, so no mandatory tender offer triggered—at least for now.</li>
</ul>


Government aims to sell 30.6% NXC stake by 2027 for ₩4T tax revenue, offering NXC a buyback or selling with management control to attract bidders.
The family won’t buy back the 30.6% stake but may allow partial management rights, with Tencent eyeing that stake—not a full $15B Nexon buyout as Bloomberg suggested.
Tencent’s targeting that stake chunk only, no control shift, so no mandatory tender offer triggered—at least for now.


More Accurate Context Behind Tencent’s Nexon Moves Reported by Bloomberg

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>One of the big thematic events on the Korean stock market has been the expectation that China could lift ban on Korean popular culture (Hallyu) as early as May 2025. </li>
<li>China's President Xi recently stated <em>"Cultural exchanges are a valuable part of our bilateral relations [between China and Korea]. We should avoid any problems occurring in handling such matters.” </em>
</li>
<li>We provide a list of 40 stocks in Korea that could most benefit from the end of lifting ban of Korean popular culture. </li>
</ul>


One of the big thematic events on the Korean stock market has been the expectation that China could lift ban on Korean popular culture (Hallyu) as early as May 2025. 
China's President Xi recently stated "Cultural exchanges are a valuable part of our bilateral relations [between China and Korea]. We should avoid any problems occurring in handling such matters.” 

We provide a list of 40 stocks in Korea that could most benefit from the end of lifting ban of Korean popular culture. 


China Could Lift Ban on Korean Popular Culture (Hallyu) As Early As May 2025

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

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analyzed the changes in short interest of KRX stocks as of Aug 2nd which has an aggregated short interest worth USD5.4bn.</li>
<li>We tabulate league table for top short by value and short as multiple of ADT, as well as weekly increases &amp; decreases in short value, short as multiple of ADT.</li>
<li>We highlight short interest changes in Sk Hynix, Korea Aerospace, Posco.</li>
</ul>


We analyzed the changes in short interest of KRX stocks as of Aug 2nd which has an aggregated short interest worth USD5.4bn.
We tabulate league table for top short by value and short as multiple of ADT, as well as weekly increases &amp; decreases in short value, short as multiple of ADT.
We highlight short interest changes in Sk Hynix, Korea Aerospace, Posco.


KRX Short Interest Weekly (Aug 2nd): Sk Hynix, Korea Aerospace, Posco

South Korea

Nexon Games Co., Ltd. operates as a role play games professional development company. The Company develops online games, mobile games, and other related products. Nexon Games markets its products worldwide.

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Nexon Games (225570 KS)

Lee Jae-Myung Becomes the New South Korean President - Four Investment Themes That Could Outperform

In this insight, we discuss four investment themes (related to Lee Jae-Myung becoming the new South Korean President) that could outperform the...

Douglas Kim

More Accurate Context Behind Tencent’s Nexon Moves Reported by Bloomberg

This post digs deeper to give you the more accurate, behind-the-scenes context on Tencent’s Nexon moves that Bloomberg reported.

Sanghyun Park

China Could Lift Ban on Korean Popular Culture (Hallyu) As Early As May 2025

One of the big thematic events that have impacted the Korean stock market this week has been the expectation that China could lift ban on Korean...

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

KRX Short Interest Weekly (Aug 2nd): Sk Hynix, Korea Aerospace, Posco

We analyzed KRX short interest report for the past week and highlighted short interest changes in Sk Hynix, Korea Aerospace, Posco.

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

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52-week Range

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