Overseas Chinese Equities, Aequitas Research

Ming Lu

Overseas Chinese Equities

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 Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Apps are over-crowded in mobile handsets and the time of mini-program is coming.</li>
<li>WeChat is the largest mini-program platform.</li>
<li>We raise a case of the competition between Meituan and Ele.me.</li>
<li>Other companies also use mini-program to introduce users to their apps.</li>
</ul>


Apps are over-crowded in mobile handsets and the time of mini-program is coming.
WeChat is the largest mini-program platform.
We raise a case of the competition between Meituan and Ele.me.
Other companies also use mini-program to introduce users to their apps.


Tencent (700 HK): Meituan Wins in Mini-Program, But Actually Tencent Wins

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

Equity Capital Markets

<div>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/didi-chuxing-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27467:1" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing (DIDI US)</a>, the world’s largest mobility technology platform, raised around US$4.4bn in its US listing. It is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/softbank-group-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:315:1" rel="noopener">Softbank Group (9984 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a>, along with other investors.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p>We have covered the deal background and financials overview in our previous notes<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-pre-ipo-one-of-asia-s-largest-ipos-this-year-tearsheet" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a>:</p>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-pre-ipo-one-of-asia-s-largest-ipos-this-year-tearsheet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - One of Asia’s Largest IPOs This Year - Tearsheet</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-pre-ipo-has-a-principal-agent-problem-rumoured-target-valuation-is-a-stretch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Has a Principal Agent Problem, Rumoured Target Valuation Is a Stretch</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-pre-ipo-competitive-in-car-hailing-uncompetitive-in-others-generally-valuable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DIDI (滴滴) Pre-IPO: Competitive in Car Hailing, Uncompetitive In “Others”, Generally Valuable</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-pre-ipo-peer-comparison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-pre-ipo-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Valuation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-pre-ipo-bull-case-index-inclusion-uber-exit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Bull Case, Index Inclusion, Uber Exit</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/didi-chuxing-ipo-at-fair-value-with-partial-lock-up-and-index-inclusion-pulling-it-either-way" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DiDi Chuxing IPO - At Fair Value, with Partial Lock-Up and Index Inclusion Pulling It Either Way</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<p>In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.</p>
</div>


DiDi Chuxing (DIDI US), the world’s largest mobility technology platform, raised around US$4.4bn in its US listing. It is backed by Softbank Group (9984 JP) and Tencent (700 HK), along with other investors.


We have covered the deal background and financials overview in our previous notes:




DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - One of Asia’s Largest IPOs This Year - Tearsheet.
DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Has a Principal Agent Problem, Rumoured Target Valuation Is a Stretch
DIDI (滴滴) Pre-IPO: Competitive in Car Hailing, Uncompetitive In “Others”, Generally Valuable
DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Peer Comparison
DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Valuation
DiDi Chuxing Pre-IPO - Bull Case, Index Inclusion, Uber Exit
DiDi Chuxing IPO - At Fair Value, with Partial Lock-Up and Index Inclusion Pulling It Either Way



In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.


DiDi Chuxing IPO Trading - Upsize Will Ensures Index Inclusion, Lock-Up Remains a Wildcard

APAC IPOs & Placements

Zhen Zhou, Toh

New Oriental Education & Techn / Equity Bottom-Up

<p>China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening of regulations on after-school tutoring sector including online education sectors. </p><p>In this note, we will discuss how we would position heading into the tightening of regulations.</p>

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening of regulations on after-school tutoring sector including online education sectors. In this note, we will discuss how we would position heading into the tightening of regulations.

China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

Full Truck Alliance   / Equity Capital Markets

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/full-truck-alliance" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33429:1" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance (YMM US)</a> (FTA),  China’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, raised around US$1.6bn via a US listing. It is backed by Softbank and Sequoia.</p></div><div>
<p>In our earlier notes, we spoke about various aspects of the deal in our earlier notes:<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-the-positives-category-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-the-positives-category-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Positives - Category Leader, </a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-the-negatives-still-a-mixed-bag" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Still a Mixed Bag,</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-pre-ipo-valuation-even-the-previous-round-might-have-been-a-stretch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - Valuation, Even the Previous Round Might Have Been a Stretch, and</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/full-truck-alliance-ipo-decent-investor-line-up-at-best-a-punt-at-these-valuations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full Truck Alliance IPO - Decent Investor Line-Up, at Best a Punt at These Valuations</a></li>
</ul>
<p>In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.</p>
</div>

Full Truck Alliance (YMM US) (FTA),  China’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, raised around US$1.6bn via a US listing. It is backed by Softbank and Sequoia.
In our earlier notes, we spoke about various aspects of the deal in our earlier notes:

Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Positives - Category Leader, 
Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - The Negatives - Still a Mixed Bag,
Full Truck Alliance Pre-IPO - Valuation, Even the Previous Round Might Have Been a Stretch, and
Full Truck Alliance IPO - Decent Investor Line-Up, at Best a Punt at These Valuations

In this note, we will talk about the trading dynamics.


Full Truck Alliance IPO Trading - Have to Do a Bull Case to Find Some Upside

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.

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/soulgate-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33304:1" rel="noopener">Soulgate (SSR US)</a> is an alternative social networking platform that lets users have virtual identities and aims to recommend to each user (referred to as a Souler) curated content and other Soulers with similar personalities, lifestyles and interests, enabling more in-depth interactions and more meaningful connections. Soulgate is backed by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/tencent-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26:1" rel="noopener">Tencent (700 HK)</a> (49.9% of outstanding shares, 25.7% of outstanding shares). </p></div><div>
<p>At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.0-15.00 per ADS, Soulgate will have a market cap of $1.7 billion. New investors Janus Henderson and Boyu Capital intend to purchase a total of $80 million worth of ADSs in the offering (43.3% of the deal). At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds including the concurrent private placement are $257.3 million. </p>
<p>Soulgate will also raise an additional $89 million in a concurrent private placement with miHoYo. miHoYo was founded in 2012 by three Shanghai Jiaotong University graduate students. miHoYo is the creator of <em>Genshin Impact</em>, an open-world action role-playing game released in 2020, and one of the highest-grossing mobile games. It is not entirely clear if there are any near-term synergies through this investment. Currently, Soulgate's exposure to games is largely limited to its <em>Werewolf Rooms</em> (a subset of its <em>Animated Partyroom</em> app functionality) which enable users to play the popular board game <em>Werewolf</em>.</p>
</div><div><div>
<p>In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/soulgate-ipo-initiation-lost-soul" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:51651" rel="noopener">Soulgate IPO Initiation: Lost Soul,</a> we opined at first glance, Soulgate is well-positioned to benefit from a sizeable China’s mobile social networking market. The strong growth in users, fast-paced revenue growth and ongoing revenue diversification suggest that Soulgate is heading in the right direction. However, the high S&amp;M expenses which exceeded revenue in each of the last three quarters, suggests that Soulgate is aggressively chasing user growth without paying much heed to monetisation and payback periods. This modus operandi is highly reflective of growth at all costs strategy. Overall, we think that the negatives in the Soulgate story warrant a pass.  </p>
<div class="content-highlight"><p>Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. Overall, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's growth at all costs strategy will generate shareholder value, we are inclined to give this IPO a pass. </p></div>
</div></div>

Soulgate (SSR US) is an alternative social networking platform that lets users have virtual identities and aims to recommend to each user (referred to as a Souler) curated content and other Soulers with similar personalities, lifestyles and interests, enabling more in-depth interactions and more meaningful connections. Soulgate is backed by Tencent (700 HK) (49.9% of outstanding shares, 25.7% of outstanding shares). 
At the mid-point of the proposed IPO price range of $13.0-15.00 per ADS, Soulgate will have a market cap of $1.7 billion. New investors Janus Henderson and Boyu Capital intend to purchase a total of $80 million worth of ADSs in the offering (43.3% of the deal). At the mid-point of the IPO price range, the net proceeds including the concurrent private placement are $257.3 million. 
Soulgate will also raise an additional $89 million in a concurrent private placement with miHoYo. miHoYo was founded in 2012 by three Shanghai Jiaotong University graduate students. miHoYo is the creator of Genshin Impact, an open-world action role-playing game released in 2020, and one of the highest-grossing mobile games. It is not entirely clear if there are any near-term synergies through this investment. Currently, Soulgate's exposure to games is largely limited to its Werewolf Rooms (a subset of its Animated Partyroom app functionality) which enable users to play the popular board game Werewolf.

In Soulgate IPO Initiation: Lost Soul, we opined at first glance, Soulgate is well-positioned to benefit from a sizeable China’s mobile social networking market. The strong growth in users, fast-paced revenue growth and ongoing revenue diversification suggest that Soulgate is heading in the right direction. However, the high S&amp;M expenses which exceeded revenue in each of the last three quarters, suggests that Soulgate is aggressively chasing user growth without paying much heed to monetisation and payback periods. This modus operandi is highly reflective of growth at all costs strategy. Overall, we think that the negatives in the Soulgate story warrant a pass.  
Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. Overall, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's growth at all costs strategy will generate shareholder value, we are inclined to give this IPO a pass. 


China

Zhihu Inc. operates as an online share knowledge community. The Company provides a socialized website for questions and answers which enables users to obtain information through questions that provoke the opinions and views from answerers as individuals. Zhihu conducts businesses in China.

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Zhihu Technology (ZH US)

Tencent (700 HK): Meituan Wins in Mini-Program, But Actually Tencent Wins

Apps are over-crowded in mobile handsets and the time of mini-program is coming. WeChat is the largest mini-program platform. We raise a case of...

Ming Lu

DiDi Chuxing IPO Trading - Upsize Will Ensures Index Inclusion, Lock-Up Remains a Wildcard

DiDi Chuxing (DIDI US), the world’s largest mobility technology platform, raised around US$4.4bn in its US listing. It is backed by Softbank Group...

Sumeet Singh

China Online Education - Diversified Revenue Stream Wins Here - Balance in All Things

China online education are trading about 60% lower on average since a year ago. This was largely due to expectations that there will be tightening...

Zhen Zhou, Toh

Full Truck Alliance IPO Trading - Have to Do a Bull Case to Find Some Upside

Full Truck Alliance (YMM US) (FTA), China’s largest digital freight platform by gross transaction value, raised around US$1.6bn via a US listing....

Sumeet Singh

Soulgate IPO: Valuation Insights

The IPO price range fairly values Soulgate for its forecasted growth. However, as we remain unconvinced that Soulgate's strategy will generate...

Arun George

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