Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events, Quiddity Advisors

David Blennerhassett

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Quiddity Advisors

Event-Driven

Has there ever been so much disinformation, speculation and conjecture for a takeover of, ostensibly, a straightforward asset?
From the onset, the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/soho-china-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4123:1" rel="noopener">SOHO China Ltd (410 HK)</a> deal traded wide on concerns the transaction could turn political on account of the company's founder's son allegedly making salacious comments aimed at China's PLA around the time India and China engaged in skirmishes along the Sino-Indian border last year. 
A vacuum of any positive news and continued speculation reached a helm on the 29 July, following a vague media article suggesting the deal faced regulatory "obstacles." The shares cratered, falling 31% at one point, before "recovering" to $3.02/share, around the undisturbed price and ~40% adrift of the $5.00/share offer price.
Five days later a sister publication of the one behind the "obstacle" article, issued a note that several banks had obtained internal approvals for underwriting some of Blackstone Group’s loans to fund the Offer. Shares consequently popped.
But it appears there was considerably more substance behind that pop in price. 
Last Friday afternoon, after the close of market, SOHO announced that on 3 August 2021, Blackstone received a <a href="https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2021/0806/2021080600685.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notice</a> from SAMR dated 2 August that the case concerning its notification under the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law had been formally accepted by SAMR for review. 
Formal acceptance should be viewed as a major positive.  Less positive is that the application does not appear to a "simple procedure" review.  
More below the fold. 
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Has there ever been so much disinformation, speculation and conjecture for a takeover of, ostensibly, a straightforward asset?
From the onset, the SOHO China Ltd (410 HK) deal traded wide on concerns the transaction could turn political on account of the company's founder's son allegedly making salacious comments aimed at China's PLA around the time India and China engaged in skirmishes along the Sino-Indian border last year. 
A vacuum of any positive news and continued speculation reached a helm on the 29 July, following a vague media article suggesting the deal faced regulatory "obstacles." The shares cratered, falling 31% at one point, before "recovering" to $3.02/share, around the undisturbed price and ~40% adrift of the $5.00/share offer price.
Five days later a sister publication of the one behind the "obstacle" article, issued a note that several banks had obtained internal approvals for underwriting some of Blackstone Group’s loans to fund the Offer. Shares consequently popped.
But it appears there was considerably more substance behind that pop in price. 
Last Friday afternoon, after the close of market, SOHO announced that on 3 August 2021, Blackstone received a notice from SAMR dated 2 August that the case concerning its notification under the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law had been formally accepted by SAMR for review. 
Formal acceptance should be viewed as a major positive.  Less positive is that the application does not appear to a "simple procedure" review.  
More below the fold. 




APAC IPOs & Placements

Zhen Zhou, Toh

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

WM Tech Corporation / Equity Capital Markets

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wm-tech-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32976:1" rel="noopener">WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK)</a> is looking to raise US$1bn in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO. WM Tech (WMT) is a fresh food and FMCG retailer in China. The company operates its business primarily through two brands, Wumart (物美) and Metro (麦德龙). The Metro brand belonged to Metro China in which WMT acquired an 80% stake in and started consolidating in April 2020.In this note, we have  compared WMT to other supermarket operators.We have previously covered the IPO in:<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/wm-tech-pre-ipo-digitalization-efforts-coming-through-but-not-well-substantiated" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:52007" rel="noopener">WM Tech Pre-IPO - Digitalization Efforts Coming Through but Not Well Substantiated</a> </li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/wm-tech-pre-ipo-wumart-as-main-brand-marginalized-on-the-ground" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:52273" rel="noopener">WM Tech Pre-IPO: Wumart as Main Brand, Marginalized on the Ground</a> </li>
</ul>

WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK) is looking to raise US$1bn in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO. WM Tech (WMT) is a fresh food and FMCG retailer in China. The company operates its business primarily through two brands, Wumart (物美) and Metro (麦德龙). The Metro brand belonged to Metro China in which WMT acquired an 80% stake in and started consolidating in April 2020.In this note, we have  compared WMT to other supermarket operators.We have previously covered the IPO in:

WM Tech Pre-IPO - Digitalization Efforts Coming Through but Not Well Substantiated 

WM Tech Pre-IPO: Wumart as Main Brand, Marginalized on the Ground 


WM Tech Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison and Pre-IPO Valuation - Some Signs of Advantage

Global Emerging Market Equities, Propitious Research

Wium Malan, CFA

Global Emerging Market Equities

Independent, Fundamental Quantitative Research

Propitious Research

Fully independent, fundamental and quantitative equity research, focused on companies in the Telecommunication, Media, Technology, Internet and Healthcare sectors in the Global Emerging Markets. Idea generation focused on Quality stocks, trading below their intrinsic Value, with sound Corporate Governance.

Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jd-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29043:1" rel="noopener">JD.com Inc. (9618 HK)</a> has been a shining example of what can be achieved through both Operating- and Financial leverage as a business scales up. This has been a commendable performance by its management team over the past nearly a decade, balancing gains from operating and financial leverage, whilst prudently, yet aggressively, investing in growth. Over the past 8 years it has delivered expansion at the Gross margin level (through mix change to advertising revenue and scale in 1P), the Operating margin level (lower losses in 3P), and the net margin level (cash generation and lower losses from associates). With lingering concerns around short-term margin expansion, as the group invests more aggressively in group purchasing aimed at the fresh food segment, in this insight, I analyse the potential for long-term margin expansion and what that implies for current valuation levels for China’s largest direct retailer.

JD.com Inc. (9618 HK) has been a shining example of what can be achieved through both Operating- and Financial leverage as a business scales up. This has been a commendable performance by its management team over the past nearly a decade, balancing gains from operating and financial leverage, whilst prudently, yet aggressively, investing in growth. Over the past 8 years it has delivered expansion at the Gross margin level (through mix change to advertising revenue and scale in 1P), the Operating margin level (lower losses in 3P), and the net margin level (cash generation and lower losses from associates). With lingering concerns around short-term margin expansion, as the group invests more aggressively in group purchasing aimed at the fresh food segment, in this insight, I analyse the potential for long-term margin expansion and what that implies for current valuation levels for China’s largest direct retailer.

JD.com: A Detailed Look at Long-Term Margins and Valuation

IPOs and Catalysts/Events, Global Equity Research Ltd

Arun George

IPOs and Catalysts/Events

Uncompromised, Independent, Conflict-Free Research

Global Equity Research Ltd

Global Equity Research was started in 2017 by a group of experienced research professionals. It was founded on a passionate belief in the importance and the need for uncompromised, independent, conflict-free research. We aim to provide differentiated and actionable primary and bottom up fundamental research.

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/wm-tech-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:32976:1" rel="noopener">WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK)</a> is a leading fresh food and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) retailer in China through the Wumart and Metro China brands. It is the largest premium store-based fresh food and FMCG retailer in China with a 19.5% market share as measured by sales in 2020, according to Frost &amp; Sullivan. WM Tech counts <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent Holdings (700 HK)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lenovo-group-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13359:1" rel="noopener">Lenovo (992 HK)</a> as shareholders. WM Tech has filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports.  The confusing “WM Tech” holdco name is to emphasise that the proprietary technology platform (WDOS) is a key differentiation from other players in an increasingly competitive market. The technology platform is claimed to provide a unified data loop between the online and offline channels to maximize operational efficiency and greatly improve the shopping experience. <div class="content-highlight">The full adoption of this technology platform is viewed as the key to delivering synergies from the April 2020 acquisition of Metro China from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/metro-ag" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21673:1" rel="noopener">METRO AG (MEO GR)</a>. While WM Tech is not the only store-based retailer with a complete technology platform, Wumart’s performance suggests that there is some merit in the claim of technology differentiation. Overall, we believe that WM Tech’s fundamentals offer more positives than negatives.</div>

WM Tech Corporation (WMT HK) is a leading fresh food and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) retailer in China through the Wumart and Metro China brands. It is the largest premium store-based fresh food and FMCG retailer in China with a 19.5% market share as measured by sales in 2020, according to Frost &amp; Sullivan. WM Tech counts Tencent Holdings (700 HK) and Lenovo (992 HK) as shareholders. WM Tech has filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports.  The confusing “WM Tech” holdco name is to emphasise that the proprietary technology platform (WDOS) is a key differentiation from other players in an increasingly competitive market. The technology platform is claimed to provide a unified data loop between the online and offline channels to maximize operational efficiency and greatly improve the shopping experience. The full adoption of this technology platform is viewed as the key to delivering synergies from the April 2020 acquisition of Metro China from METRO AG (MEO GR). While WM Tech is not the only store-based retailer with a complete technology platform, Wumart’s performance suggests that there is some merit in the claim of technology differentiation. Overall, we believe that WM Tech’s fundamentals offer more positives than negatives.

Equity Analyst, LightStream Research

Supun Walpola

Equity Analyst

Long-Short Analysis on Japan, Asia and the World

LightStream Research

LightStream conducts quantitatively rigorous and data-driven analysis with a focus on Japan and Asia.

We consistently cover the Tech, Consumer and Industrial sectors, and provide ECM and Events coverage more broadly.

We supplement traditional qualitative insights from company relationships with a robust quantitative foundation that examines as much historical data as is available.
We further refine the accuracy of our insights and calls through the use of alternative data to flesh out current trends, and through a valuation framework that emphasises non-superficial peer group selection and a proper attempt to understand the metrics and changes that have driven security valuations in the past.

Despite the excitement over <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:787:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba Group (BABA US)</a>’s New Retail strategy, we believe the likes of Freshippo are still too small to contribute in a meaningful way to Alibaba’s valuation in the near term. However, Alibaba continues to invest heavily around the New Retail theme, both in Freshippo store expansions and through several recent investments in SunArt and Dufry. This implies that Alibaba is now pretty much committed to its New Retail strategy, and so far, seems to be happy with its progress. We do not see any major downside of New Retail for now either.In this note, we take a deep dive into Alibaba's new retail businesses, in particular, Freshippo.

Despite the excitement over Alibaba Group (BABA US)’s New Retail strategy, we believe the likes of Freshippo are still too small to contribute in a meaningful way to Alibaba’s valuation in the near term. However, Alibaba continues to invest heavily around the New Retail theme, both in Freshippo store expansions and through several recent investments in SunArt and Dufry. This implies that Alibaba is now pretty much committed to its New Retail strategy, and so far, seems to be happy with its progress. We do not see any major downside of New Retail for now either.In this note, we take a deep dive into Alibaba's new retail businesses, in particular, Freshippo. 

Alibaba: New Retail Is Exciting but Too Small For Now

China

Yonghui Superstores Company Limited operates supermarket franchises . The Company mainly operates hypermarkets, marketplace and supermarkets.

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Yonghui Superstores Co., (601933 CH)

SOHO China (410 HK): Time To Buy

Formal acceptance for review is a big positive development. Most deals in China are simply not accepted for review if they are a no-go - and the...

David Blennerhassett

WM Tech Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison and Pre-IPO Valuation - Some Signs of Advantage

WM Tech (WMT) is a fresh food and FMCG retailer in China. The company operates its business primarily through two brands, Wumart (物美) and Metro (麦德龙).

Zhen Zhou, Toh

JD.com: A Detailed Look at Long-Term Margins and Valuation

In this insight, I analyse the potential for long-term margin expansion and what that implies for current valuation levels for China’s largest...

Wium Malan, CFA

WM Tech IPO Initiation: Food for Thought

WM Tech has filed for an HKEx IPO to raise potentially $1 billion, according to press reports. Overall, we believe that WM Tech’s fundamentals...

Arun George

Alibaba: New Retail Is Exciting but Too Small For Now

Despite the excitement over Alibaba’s New Retail strategy, we believe the likes of Freshippo are still too small to contribute in a meaningful way...

Supun Walpola

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