Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>In a recent discussion with a client, one of the questions that was raised was regarding the impact the local investors are having on the corporate governance reforms in Korea.</li>
<li>The number of local investors in the Korean stock market has jumped in the past few years from 5.3 million in 2017 to 14.4 million in 2022.</li>
<li>All in all, I think Korea is about 3-5 years behind Japan in various corporate governance reforms. So it has a lot of catching up to do.</li>
</ul>


In a recent discussion with a client, one of the questions that was raised was regarding the impact the local investors are having on the corporate governance reforms in Korea.
The number of local investors in the Korean stock market has jumped in the past few years from 5.3 million in 2017 to 14.4 million in 2022.
All in all, I think Korea is about 3-5 years behind Japan in various corporate governance reforms. So it has a lot of catching up to do.


Locals Driving Corporate Reforms and 10 Korean Companies Recently Announcing Share Cancellations

<ul>
<li>SKC Co Ltd (011790 KS) announced on 29 April that it plans to change into an intermediate holding company.</li>
<li>We believe that the formation of an intermediate holding company structure could have a negative impact on SKC's share price. </li>
<li>This is because some investors may be concerned that SKC may try to complete IPOs of some of its valuable subsidiaries including SKCFT Holdings without adequate protection for SKC shareholders.</li>
</ul>


SKC Co Ltd (011790 KS) announced on 29 April that it plans to change into an intermediate holding company.
We believe that the formation of an intermediate holding company structure could have a negative impact on SKC's share price. 
This is because some investors may be concerned that SKC may try to complete IPOs of some of its valuable subsidiaries including SKCFT Holdings without adequate protection for SKC shareholders.


SKC Co: Formation of an Intermediate Holding Company

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

Travis Lundy

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

<ul>
<li>On Friday morning, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-discovery-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5181:1" rel="noopener">Sk Discovery (006120 KS)</a>, current owner/controller of 36.56% of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-chemicals-co-ltd-new" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26190:1" rel="noopener">Sk Chemicals Co Ltd/New (285130 KS)</a> announced an opportunistic Partial Offer to buy 5.22% more at KRW 108,800/share.</li>
<li>The stated purpose in the <a href="https://kind.krx.co.kr/common/disclsviewer.do?method=search&amp;acptno=20220902000019&amp;docno=&amp;viewerhost=&amp;viewerport=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tender Offer Announcement</a> is "Stability of Management Rights." This will get SK Discovery to 41.77%, permitting consolidation of SK Chemicals.</li>
<li>
<em><strong>The real reason?</strong></em>SK Chemicals shares are trading at less than one-third the value of the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-bioscience-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31484:1" rel="noopener">SK Bioscience (302440 KS)</a> shares they hold (with net cash and others free).</li>
</ul>


On Friday morning, Sk Discovery (006120 KS), current owner/controller of 36.56% of Sk Chemicals Co Ltd/New (285130 KS) announced an opportunistic Partial Offer to buy 5.22% more at KRW 108,800/share.
The stated purpose in the Tender Offer Announcement is "Stability of Management Rights." This will get SK Discovery to 41.77%, permitting consolidation of SK Chemicals.

The real reason?SK Chemicals shares are trading at less than one-third the value of the SK Bioscience (302440 KS) shares they hold (with net cash and others free).


SK Discovery Launches Opportunistic Partial Tender on SK Chemicals To Buy SK Bio CHEAP

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

<ul>
<li>This is a cash offer. So, there is no stock swap arbitrage here. To participate in this tender, we must buy SK Chemicals shares by the 19th.</li>
<li>We have proration risk. Discovery will buy on a pro-rata basis if exceeding the target volume. So, we could be at a loss.</li>
<li>This is an over-the-counter transaction. So both STT and CGT apply. The STT rate is 0.43% of the tendered amount and we have a 22% CGT rate for the profit.</li>
</ul>


This is a cash offer. So, there is no stock swap arbitrage here. To participate in this tender, we must buy SK Chemicals shares by the 19th.
We have proration risk. Discovery will buy on a pro-rata basis if exceeding the target volume. So, we could be at a loss.
This is an over-the-counter transaction. So both STT and CGT apply. The STT rate is 0.43% of the tendered amount and we have a 22% CGT rate for the profit.


SK Chemicals Cash Offer: Complete Details

<ul>
<li>As expected, most of the KOSPI 200 deletions, except for Bukwang Pharm, significantly outperformed the KOSPI index today.</li>
<li>Those that fit the pattern shown in the last rebalancing are CJ CGV and Bukwang. The problem, however, is that they have potential events triggering their price to fall.</li>
<li>So, I suggest paying attention to Yungjin Pharm and SK Discovery, which also have a sizable level of short interest and are expected to have stable short-coverings by end-June.</li>
</ul>


As expected, most of the KOSPI 200 deletions, except for Bukwang Pharm, significantly outperformed the KOSPI index today.
Those that fit the pattern shown in the last rebalancing are CJ CGV and Bukwang. The problem, however, is that they have potential events triggering their price to fall.
So, I suggest paying attention to Yungjin Pharm and SK Discovery, which also have a sizable level of short interest and are expected to have stable short-coverings by end-June.


Short-Covering Trend of KOSPI 200 Deletions by Month-End

South Korea

SK Discovery Co.,Ltd. wholesales and distributes natural gas. The Company wholesales and distributes propylene, propane, and other natural gas SK Discovery markets its products throughout South Korea.

Sk Discovery (006120 KS)

SKC Co: Formation of an Intermediate Holding Company

This insight provides additional details of SKC which has announced highly aggressive investment plans to expand its rechargeable batteries and...

Douglas Kim

SK Discovery Launches Opportunistic Partial Tender on SK Chemicals To Buy SK Bio CHEAP

SK Discovery has launched an opportunistic Offer to buy 5.2% of SK Chem to go >40+%. A small premium to recent but only a 12-week high... ish......

Travis Lundy

SK Chemicals Cash Offer: Complete Details

This post provides complete details about SK Discovery's cash offer to the shareholders of SK Chemicals and discusses trading angles on this event.

Sanghyun Park

Short-Covering Trend of KOSPI 200 Deletions by Month-End

This post investigates the pattern shown in the last KOSPI 200 rebalancing for short-covering on the deletions and applies it to this rebalancing...

Sanghyun Park

Locals Driving Corporate Reforms and 10 Korean Companies Recently Announcing Share Cancellations

On 17 April, Celltrion Inc announced that it will buyback shares worth 75 billion won. Including 75 billion won of share repurchase last month,...

Douglas Kim

SKC Co: Formation of an Intermediate Holding Company

This insight provides additional details of SKC which has announced highly aggressive investment plans to expand its rechargeable batteries and...

Douglas Kim

SK Discovery Launches Opportunistic Partial Tender on SK Chemicals To Buy SK Bio CHEAP

SK Discovery has launched an opportunistic Offer to buy 5.2% of SK Chem to go >40+%. A small premium to recent but only a 12-week high... ish......

Travis Lundy

SK Chemicals Cash Offer: Complete Details

This post provides complete details about SK Discovery's cash offer to the shareholders of SK Chemicals and discusses trading angles on this event.

Sanghyun Park

Short-Covering Trend of KOSPI 200 Deletions by Month-End

This post investigates the pattern shown in the last KOSPI 200 rebalancing for short-covering on the deletions and applies it to this rebalancing...

Sanghyun Park