Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Douglas Research Advisory

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>We are changing our View on SK Square (402340 KS) to Negative.</li>
<li>The major reason for this change is due to the surge in its share price along with lack of upside relative to its NAV.</li>
<li>Regarding SK Square, our holdco discount remains 40%. However, if there are real, positive continued efforts to improve corporate governance, this holdco discount could be reduced further.   </li>
</ul>


We are changing our View on SK Square (402340 KS) to Negative.
The major reason for this change is due to the surge in its share price along with lack of upside relative to its NAV.
Regarding SK Square, our holdco discount remains 40%. However, if there are real, positive continued efforts to improve corporate governance, this holdco discount could be reduced further.   


SK Square: Time to Take Profits + Why Are There Holdco Discounts in the First Place?

APAC IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Nicholas Tan

APAC 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/kakao-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15002:1" rel="noopener">Kakao Corp (035720 KS)</a> is looking to raise US$316m from a clean-up sale in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-square-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:35264:1" rel="noopener">SK Square (402340 KS)</a> .</li>
<li>The deal is a small one, representing 5.4 days of the stock’s three month ADV, and 1.7% of total shares outstanding.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our ECM framework.</li>
</ul>



Kakao Corp (035720 KS) is looking to raise US$316m from a clean-up sale in SK Square (402340 KS) .
The deal is a small one, representing 5.4 days of the stock’s three month ADV, and 1.7% of total shares outstanding.
In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our ECM framework.


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>The ruling party's KOSPI 5,000 task force is now eyeing low PBR names with talk of direct penalties — a sharper shift from the prior admin’s soft-touch value-up approach.</li>
<li>Low PBR penalties may bypass the Assembly, fast-tracked via KRX or enforcement rule tweaks — rollout could follow swiftly post commercial code passage, possibly within 2–3 months.</li>
<li>Market’s zeroing in on low PBR, high ROE large caps — with 0.8x flagged as the penalty line, 56 KRW 1T+ names screen as potential re-rating plays.</li>
</ul>


The ruling party's KOSPI 5,000 task force is now eyeing low PBR names with talk of direct penalties — a sharper shift from the prior admin’s soft-touch value-up approach.
Low PBR penalties may bypass the Assembly, fast-tracked via KRX or enforcement rule tweaks — rollout could follow swiftly post commercial code passage, possibly within 2–3 months.
Market’s zeroing in on low PBR, high ROE large caps — with 0.8x flagged as the penalty line, 56 KRW 1T+ names screen as potential re-rating plays.


Fresh Low-PBR Policy Color Hitting the Local Tape Today

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 foreign holdings of KRX stocks as of Dec 12th. The aggregated holding was USD848.5bn.</li>
<li>We estimate that foreign flows to be inflows of USD1,741mln. We tabulate the league table for top changes by value for 1W/4W/1Y and top stocks held by foreign institutions.</li>
<li>We highlight changes of foreign holdings in SK Hynix, ECOPRO, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Alteogen.</li>
</ul>


We analyzed the changes in foreign holdings of KRX stocks as of Dec 12th. The aggregated holding was USD848.5bn.
We estimate that foreign flows to be inflows of USD1,741mln. We tabulate the league table for top changes by value for 1W/4W/1Y and top stocks held by foreign institutions.
We highlight changes of foreign holdings in SK Hynix, ECOPRO, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Alteogen.


KRX Foreign Holding Weekly (Dec 12th): SK Hynix, ECOPRO, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor

<ul>
<li>Due to NAV accuracy issues, locals favor sigma plays within ±2σ bands over classic stub trades, with aggressive traders rotating longs and shorts around ±1σ.</li>
<li>Avoid trending divergence periods; these eight targets usually mean-revert well, but H1 this year showed unusually deep divergence—important to consider for current sigma plays.</li>
<li>As of today, no 20-day MA sigmas trigger trades, but holding company strength drives price ratios—a trend likely lasting post-election—suggesting ±2σ sigma plays with longs in holdcos.</li>
</ul>


Due to NAV accuracy issues, locals favor sigma plays within ±2σ bands over classic stub trades, with aggressive traders rotating longs and shorts around ±1σ.
Avoid trending divergence periods; these eight targets usually mean-revert well, but H1 this year showed unusually deep divergence—important to consider for current sigma plays.
As of today, no 20-day MA sigmas trigger trades, but holding company strength drives price ratios—a trend likely lasting post-election—suggesting ±2σ sigma plays with longs in holdcos.


A Practical Guide to Stub Arb Trade in the Korean Stock Market

South Korea

SK Square Co., Ltd. operates as an investment company. The Company invests in semiconductors, information and communications technologies, and other industries. SK Square conducts businesses in South Korea.

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SK Square (402340 KS)

SK Square: Time to Take Profits + Why Are There Holdco Discounts in the First Place?

We are changing our View on SK Square (402340 KS) to Negative mainly due to the surge in its share price along with lack of upside relative to its...

Douglas Kim

SK Square Placement: Clean up by Kakao

Kakao is looking to raise US$316m from a clean-up sale in SK Square. In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our...

Nicholas Tan

Fresh Low-PBR Policy Color Hitting the Local Tape Today

This post dives into newly leaked low-PBR crackdown details from the ruling party that began circulating in the local market today.

Sanghyun Park

KRX Foreign Holding Weekly (Dec 12th): SK Hynix, ECOPRO, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor

We analyzed KRX foreign holding data for the past week and highlighted foreign holding changes in SK Hynix, ECOPRO, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

A Practical Guide to Stub Arb Trade in the Korean Stock Market

This post offers a practical guide to stub trades in Korea, where NAV is tricky, so most traders focus on relative value or sigma plays instead of...

Sanghyun Park

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