
In today’s briefing:
- Kioxia (285A JP): Bain’s US$2.1 Billion Selldown
- [Japan Offering] Bain Starting Kioxia (285A) Selldown; More to Come Soonish?
- Kioxia (285A JP) Placement: Limited Passive Buying & Big Runup Opens Up More Downside
- Kioxia Placement – US$2bn Deal, Relatively Small, Index Upweight but the Shares Have Runup
- [Japan Offering] Dear Life (3245 JP) – Unusual Offer Dynamics Are Bullish Despite Dilution
- SBI Shinsei Bank Pre-IPO – Thoughts on Valuations
- Nippon Steel Placement – Cleanup by Posco Right After Expiry of Previous Deal
- NS Group IPO – Peer Comp and Thoughts on Valuation
- Primer: Kioxia Holdings (285A JP) – Nov 2025
- United Arrows on a Roll Again with Korean Brands

Kioxia (285A JP): Bain’s US$2.1 Billion Selldown
- Bloomberg reports that Bain Capital is selling 36.0 million Kioxia Holdings (285A JP) shares through a block trade. IFR reports that the offering is worth up to JPY330 billion (US$2.1 billion).
- The offering is unsurprising given the shares are up around 7x since the IPO. The offering is easily digestible as it represents 2.7 days of the average ADV since listing.
- Kioxia is anticipated to return to growth in 3Q, and the underlying margin is recovering from recent lows. However, Kioxia’s EV/EBITDA multiple is full compared to peers and historical ranges.
[Japan Offering] Bain Starting Kioxia (285A) Selldown; More to Come Soonish?
- After the close today, BCPE Pangea Cayman announced plans to sell a stake of 36mm shares of Kioxia Holdings (285A JP) in an overnight block. It trades tomorrow.
- This is 6.7% of shares out, 1.5x ADV. The discount is 7-9%. But it is 35% of Max Real World Float. And probably gets tradable shares to 34+%, not 35%.
- That means another offering is likely near-term. The lockup is only 30 days it appears. There is possibly a fair bit of long-dated index demand.
Kioxia (285A JP) Placement: Limited Passive Buying & Big Runup Opens Up More Downside
- Bain Capital is looking to place 36m shares of Kioxia Holdings (285A JP) to overseas investors at a 7-9% discount to the last close of the stock.
- The stock has run up a lot since its IPO with the last leg driven by inclusion in a global index that took place at the close on Friday.
- Toshiba (6502 JP) had already been selling stock, and the Bain selling could take the stock lower, especially with limited passive buying in the short-term to support the big runup.
Kioxia Placement – US$2bn Deal, Relatively Small, Index Upweight but the Shares Have Runup
- Bain aims to raise around US$2bn via selling around 6% of its stake in Kioxia Holdings (285A JP). The IPO linked lockup on its shareholding had expired in Jun 2025.
- Kioxia is a manufacturer and a global leader in flash memory and solid state drives for smartphones, PCs, enterprise servers and data centers.
- In this note, we will talk about deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.
[Japan Offering] Dear Life (3245 JP) – Unusual Offer Dynamics Are Bullish Despite Dilution
- Today after the close, Tokyo-based Dear Life (3245 JP) announced a primary offering to raise approximately ¥7bn through 15% dilution. Implying a 13+% price drop to protect PER.
- But the company plans on growing earnings. It has some projects in inventory, but it obviously plans a lot of turnover this year and needs to replenish.
- The MTMP “slogan” is “2028 – Ride the Wave!” This is a bit what investing in Tokyo real estate is like now. So one rides it until one doesn’t.
SBI Shinsei Bank Pre-IPO – Thoughts on Valuations
- SBI Shinsei Bank (8303 JP), a Japanese financial institution, aims to raise around US$2bn in its Japan listing
- SBI Shinsei Bank (SBISB) is a Japanese financial institution providing a range of financial products and services to both individual and institutional customers.
- We have looked at past performance in our earlier notes. In this note, we talk about valuations.
Nippon Steel Placement – Cleanup by Posco Right After Expiry of Previous Deal
- POSCO Holdings (005490 KS) is looking to sell its remaining stake in Nippon Steel Corporation (5401 JP) to raise up to US$154m via a cleanup block trade.
- This deal represents 1.6 days of ADV and is around 1% of shares outstanding.
- In this note, we will talk about the placement and run the deal through our ECM framework.
NS Group IPO – Peer Comp and Thoughts on Valuation
- NS Group (471A JP) (NSG) is one of Japan’s leading rent guarantee service providers, offering payment guarantee and rent collection solutions to property owners and management companies.
- NSG aims to raise around US$256m in its Japan IPO via an entirely secondary offering, marking Bain Capital’s full exit from the company.
- In our previous note, we looked at the firm’s past performance. In this note, we talk about the peer comparison and IPO valuations.
Primer: Kioxia Holdings (285A JP) – Nov 2025
- Kioxia is a leading global supplier of NAND flash memory, experiencing a strong financial recovery driven by surging demand from AI, data centers, and smart devices.
- The company’s strategic focus is on technological leadership in 3D NAND and advanced SSDs, supported by a significant joint venture with Western Digital that enhances R&D and production scale.
- While the outlook is positive, key risks include the inherent cyclicality of the memory industry, intense competition from established players, and execution risks associated with ambitious margin and technology targets.
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United Arrows on a Roll Again with Korean Brands
- United Arrows is beginning to flex its market power by launching more new brands rather than just iterations of its eponymous name
- A key focus is a move to exploit the massive demand for Korean brands in Japan with Korean licenses for Nice Weather and Osoi.
- More licenses are expected in the near future as the select shop retailer looks to take more share of the premium market.