Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sydney-airport" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19063:1" rel="noopener">Sydney Airport (SYD AU)</a> has <a href="https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02391761-2A1307944?access_token=83ff96335c2d45a094df02a206a39ff4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a consortium comprising IFM Investors, QSuper, and fund manager Global Infrastructure Management has made an indicative, non-binding Offer by way of a Scheme at $8.25/share,  a 42% premium to last close.  
SYD has commenced an assessment of the proposal but mentions the Offer price is below the Covid-cliff, and that the pandemic effect on operations is expected to be short-term.  
Separately, the Offer is conditional on regulatory approvals such as FIRB and ACCC. As a critical aviation asset, it's not just the opportunistic price that could torpedo this deal.
More below the fold.

Sydney Airport (SYD AU) has announced a consortium comprising IFM Investors, QSuper, and fund manager Global Infrastructure Management has made an indicative, non-binding Offer by way of a Scheme at $8.25/share,  a 42% premium to last close.  
SYD has commenced an assessment of the proposal but mentions the Offer price is below the Covid-cliff, and that the pandemic effect on operations is expected to be short-term.  
Separately, the Offer is conditional on regulatory approvals such as FIRB and ACCC. As a critical aviation asset, it's not just the opportunistic price that could torpedo this deal.
More below the fold.

Sydney Airports (SYD AU): Opportunistic Tilt Amid Cloudy Future

Equity Bottom-Up

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport / Equity Bottom-Up

Within the hospitality-affected complex, the airline industry garners the lion's share of the negative news from the Covid fall-out. The <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/280456Z:CN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Air Transport Association</a> said last month it estimates losses in 2021 of US$48bn, up from $38bn previously. And that's on top of an estimated $370bn of losses to the industry in FY20, <a href="https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/2020-passenger-totals-drop-60-percent-as-COVID19-assault-on-international-mobility-continues.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
But spare a thought for the airports which facilitate the arrival and departure of these airlines, as this crisis becomes increasingly protracted, and in many ways, deeper than many anticipated 18 months ago.
Amid the doom and gloom, there are parking bays of good news. April's domestic air passenger traffic in China was ~96% of December 2019 levels. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shenzhen-airport-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15522:1" rel="noopener">Shenzhen Airport Co A (000089 CH)</a> (SZAC) is at level pegging with overall traffic numbers in 2019, and domestic flow into SZAC, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shanghai-international-airport-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6511:1" rel="noopener">Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/guangzhou-baiyun-international-airport" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10819:1" rel="noopener">Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (600004 CH)</a> all exceed 2019 levels. 
Yet outside of the Chinese airport space, where international passenger throughput has historically commanded &gt;40%+ of total throughput - up to 80% for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/airports-of-thailand-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:239:1" rel="noopener">Airports of Thailand (AOT TB)</a> -  the outlook remains subdued, and largely uncertain.
Just this week, Thailand recorded its highest level of Covid-related fatalities, Taiwan is facing its first serious outbreak, and Australia's state of Victoria entered its fourth lockdown. 
Provided airports have sufficient funds to ride out the tough times to the other side of the valley, all will undergo a major re-rate when international travel restarts. Yet the vaccine rollout - and uptake - and when international borders will reopen, remain indeterminate.
<div class="content-highlight">
What's Original?
This insight presents a comprehensive view of the key Chinese airports (<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/beijing-capital-international-airport-bcia" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10626:1" rel="noopener">Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) (694 HK)</a>, Shenzhen Airport, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/shanghai-international-airport-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6511:1" rel="noopener">Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/guangzhou-baiyun-international-airport" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10819:1" rel="noopener">Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (600004 CH)</a>, together with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/airports-of-thailand-pcl" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:239:1" rel="noopener">Airports of Thailand (AOT TB)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/malaysia-airports-hldgs-bhd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:117:1" rel="noopener">Malaysia Airports Hldgs (MAHB MK)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-airport-terminal-co" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18034:1" rel="noopener">Japan Airport Terminal Co (9706 JP)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sydney-airport" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19063:1" rel="noopener">Sydney Airport (SYD AU)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/auckland-intl-airport-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:597:1" rel="noopener">Auckland Intl Airport (AIA NZ)</a>.
</div>

Within the hospitality-affected complex, the airline industry garners the lion's share of the negative news from the Covid fall-out. The International Air Transport Association said last month it estimates losses in 2021 of US$48bn, up from $38bn previously. And that's on top of an estimated $370bn of losses to the industry in FY20, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
But spare a thought for the airports which facilitate the arrival and departure of these airlines, as this crisis becomes increasingly protracted, and in many ways, deeper than many anticipated 18 months ago.
Amid the doom and gloom, there are parking bays of good news. April's domestic air passenger traffic in China was ~96% of December 2019 levels. Shenzhen Airport Co A (000089 CH) (SZAC) is at level pegging with overall traffic numbers in 2019, and domestic flow into SZAC, Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH), and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (600004 CH) all exceed 2019 levels. 
Yet outside of the Chinese airport space, where international passenger throughput has historically commanded &gt;40%+ of total throughput - up to 80% for Airports of Thailand (AOT TB) -  the outlook remains subdued, and largely uncertain.
Just this week, Thailand recorded its highest level of Covid-related fatalities, Taiwan is facing its first serious outbreak, and Australia's state of Victoria entered its fourth lockdown. 
Provided airports have sufficient funds to ride out the tough times to the other side of the valley, all will undergo a major re-rate when international travel restarts. Yet the vaccine rollout - and uptake - and when international borders will reopen, remain indeterminate.

What's Original?
This insight presents a comprehensive view of the key Chinese airports (Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) (694 HK), Shenzhen Airport, Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH), and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (600004 CH), together with Airports of Thailand (AOT TB), Malaysia Airports Hldgs (MAHB MK), Japan Airport Terminal Co (9706 JP), Sydney Airport (SYD AU) and Auckland Intl Airport (AIA NZ).


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

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/qantas-airways-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:677:1" rel="noopener">Qantas Airways (QAN AU)</a> aims to raise around US$933m (A$1.36bn) via an institutional placement and another US$343m (A$500m) via a share purchase plan. The company has also announced a host of other cost savings measures and is now gearing up for an extended slowdown which will last a year or two.In this insight, I'll talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.

Qantas Airways (QAN AU) aims to raise around US$933m (A$1.36bn) via an institutional placement and another US$343m (A$500m) via a share purchase plan. The company has also announced a host of other cost savings measures and is now gearing up for an extended slowdown which will last a year or two.In this insight, I'll talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.

Qantas Placement - Banking on a Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble

On the 5 June 2020, the Treasury of the Australian Government released a 34-page <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/p2020-87595_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> titled Foreign investment reforms, outlining the "most comprehensive" reform to Australian foreign investment review framework since the Foreign Acquisition and Takeovers Act (FATA) was introduced in 1975.
The new powers afforded the government - a draft legislation for consultation will be released next month -  will primarily address:
<ul>
<li>A new national security test that will require foreign investors (government or private), to inform the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) if they are preparing to acquire a direct interest in a “sensitive national security business.”</li>
<li>
<div>Streamlining the approval processes for certain privately controlled institutional investment funds that hold purely passive foreign government funds, alongside private capital in non-sensitive sectors.</div>
</li>
<li>
Stronger penalties and enforcement powers to ensure greater compliance.</li>
</ul>
<div class="content-highlight">
This new draft legislation makes an important distinction between national security sensitive investments and others, and also makes a clear delineation between foreign government investment (FGI) which is passive and which is active.
It also may alleviate the burden on private equity firms as a result, but this proposed reform is clearly a framework for greater scrutiny on FGI and its strategic implications.
</div>
Further comments below the fold ...
<div style="text-align: left;" class="content-caption">For more on M&amp;A in Australia, please see the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-australia-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:30118" rel="noopener">Quiddity Australia M&amp;A Guide 2019</a> which is part of a series including... 2019 insights on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-japan-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japan</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-taiwan-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taiwan</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-india-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-singapore-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Singapore</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-hong-kong-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hong Kong</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-indonesia-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indonesia</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-thailand-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thailand</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-korea-m-a-guide-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Korea</a>, and the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/quiddity-philippines-m-a-guide-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philippines</a> designed to be used as references. Updated versions will be made available from time to time, and can be found by searching for "<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/search?q=Quiddity%20M%26A%20Guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Quiddity M&amp;A Guide</a>" (or clicking that link).</div>

On the 5 June 2020, the Treasury of the Australian Government released a 34-page document titled Foreign investment reforms, outlining the "most comprehensive" reform to Australian foreign investment review framework since the Foreign Acquisition and Takeovers Act (FATA) was introduced in 1975.
The new powers afforded the government - a draft legislation for consultation will be released next month -  will primarily address:

A new national security test that will require foreign investors (government or private), to inform the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) if they are preparing to acquire a direct interest in a “sensitive national security business.”

Streamlining the approval processes for certain privately controlled institutional investment funds that hold purely passive foreign government funds, alongside private capital in non-sensitive sectors.


Stronger penalties and enforcement powers to ensure greater compliance.


This new draft legislation makes an important distinction between national security sensitive investments and others, and also makes a clear delineation between foreign government investment (FGI) which is passive and which is active.
It also may alleviate the burden on private equity firms as a result, but this proposed reform is clearly a framework for greater scrutiny on FGI and its strategic implications.

Further comments below the fold ...
For more on M&amp;A in Australia, please see the Quiddity Australia M&amp;A Guide 2019 which is part of a series including... 2019 insights on Japan, Taiwan, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, and the Philippines designed to be used as references. Updated versions will be made available from time to time, and can be found by searching for "Quiddity M&amp;A Guide" (or clicking that link).

Quiddity M&A: Australia Foreign Investment Reforms

Independent Asian Credit Research, Bondcritic

Warut Promboon

Independent Asian Credit Research

Asian Fixed Income/Frontier Market Research

Bondcritic

Bondcritic, established in 2009, is designed to be an independent credit research voice that helps investors gain insights and unbiased analyses on Asian fixed income market. Our mission is to discover deep-value Asian high-yield and distressed bonds with a bottom-up approach, together with the help of our proprietary ESG (Environmental, Social Development, and Governance) model. At the same time, we focus on bringing investment cases of unrated and unloved issuers to the general public.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

A month after we pointed out the risk emanating from the new strain of a Corona virus (COVID-19) to the global economic recovery, the market still cannot fathom how bad this crisis will be. We were worried on the local outbreak outside China and here we are, the outbreaks in the US, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Iran; away from Asia where it all started.
Though we heard it could take anywhere from 12-18 months to develop the vaccine and the situation in China is improving, the situation in the western hemisphere is no nowhere near the peak. Assuming China has gone over the peak in 2 months (mid-January to mid-March) and it will take the western hemisphere and Iran to go over the peak in exactly the same duration, 2 months is a long time and anything can happen, in our view. Then after mid-May when the “carpet bombing” will have finished, we still need to re-assess the damage which could take months to know factually. The two unknowns are (1) how bad the infection would be in the US and Europe, given the level of unpreparedness, and (2) how much damage this virus will be on the global economy.
We are of the opinion that the damage will be very difficult to gauge as the proportion of the virus infection has never happened in recent history. We are of the opinion that COVID-19 fears will be here to stay until the vaccine is successfully developed. The return of COVID-19 in September after the summer in northern hemisphere cannot be ruled out.
We believe central banks are seeing what we see and will come out with more quantitative easing measures and fiscal stimulus in such a large scale, following the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and Bank of England’s recent 50-bp cut. A failure to stimulate the global economy at the scale of Lehman default crisis in September 2008 could see a further adjustment, in our view. What makes it harder for central banks this time around is that consumer confidence is affected by the fear of infection and death caused by COVID-19 which money cannot help alleviate. As a result, the failure to reassure public safety will make the QE or the fiscal stimulus package ineffective, in our judgment.
We are bracing for a global recession this year and expect volatility to persist for another 2 months as a result of pandemic conditions in the US and Europe. We do not believe risky assets should be accumulated at the time of this report on too many uncertainties. In the longer run, lower oil prices on Saudi-Russia conflict will benefit Asia as a net oil importer. We expect further spread widening for emerging markets bonds as defaults are expected to rise significantly.

A month after we pointed out the risk emanating from the new strain of a Corona virus (COVID-19) to the global economic recovery, the market still cannot fathom how bad this crisis will be. We were worried on the local outbreak outside China and here we are, the outbreaks in the US, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and Iran; away from Asia where it all started.
Though we heard it could take anywhere from 12-18 months to develop the vaccine and the situation in China is improving, the situation in the western hemisphere is no nowhere near the peak. Assuming China has gone over the peak in 2 months (mid-January to mid-March) and it will take the western hemisphere and Iran to go over the peak in exactly the same duration, 2 months is a long time and anything can happen, in our view. Then after mid-May when the “carpet bombing” will have finished, we still need to re-assess the damage which could take months to know factually. The two unknowns are (1) how bad the infection would be in the US and Europe, given the level of unpreparedness, and (2) how much damage this virus will be on the global economy.
We are of the opinion that the damage will be very difficult to gauge as the proportion of the virus infection has never happened in recent history. We are of the opinion that COVID-19 fears will be here to stay until the vaccine is successfully developed. The return of COVID-19 in September after the summer in northern hemisphere cannot be ruled out.
We believe central banks are seeing what we see and will come out with more quantitative easing measures and fiscal stimulus in such a large scale, following the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and Bank of England’s recent 50-bp cut. A failure to stimulate the global economy at the scale of Lehman default crisis in September 2008 could see a further adjustment, in our view. What makes it harder for central banks this time around is that consumer confidence is affected by the fear of infection and death caused by COVID-19 which money cannot help alleviate. As a result, the failure to reassure public safety will make the QE or the fiscal stimulus package ineffective, in our judgment.
We are bracing for a global recession this year and expect volatility to persist for another 2 months as a result of pandemic conditions in the US and Europe. We do not believe risky assets should be accumulated at the time of this report on too many uncertainties. In the longer run, lower oil prices on Saudi-Russia conflict will benefit Asia as a net oil importer. We expect further spread widening for emerging markets bonds as defaults are expected to rise significantly.

Australia

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited is an Australian-based  full service airline providing domestic and international operations.

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Virgin Australia Holdings (VAH AU)

Sydney Airports (SYD AU): Opportunistic Tilt Amid Cloudy Future

A full Offer probably needs to be tabled at $9+, ~9% up from the current proposal, and an additional $2bn outlay from the Consortium. I think DD...

David Blennerhassett

Asia-Pac Airports: Ups, But Mostly Downs

Domestic passenger flow into Shenzhen Airport (000089 CH), Shanghai International Airport (600009 CH), and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport...

David Blennerhassett

Qantas Placement - Banking on a Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble

Qantas Airways (QAN AU) aims to raise around US$933m (A$1.36bn) via an institutional placement and another US$343m (A$500m) via a share purchase...

Sumeet Singh

Quiddity M&A: Australia Foreign Investment Reforms

On the 5 June 2020, the Treasury of the Australian Government released a 34-page document titled Foreign investment reforms, outlining the "most...

David Blennerhassett

Market Monitor: Friday 13th Pandemic

A month after we pointed out the risk emanating from the new strain of a Corona virus (COVID-19) to the global economic recovery, the market still...

Bondcritic

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