
In today’s briefing:
- Doosan Robotics IPO – Thoughts on Valuation – A Punt at Best, a Crash at Worst
- Auckland Airport Placement – Well Flagged, LO Support but Still a Bit Tricky
- Doosan Robotics IPO: Valuation Insights
- Elecon Engineering Co. Ltd- Forensic Analysis
- Lixil (5938 JP): Levered Business Facing Cyclical & Secular Headwinds & Continued Mkt Share Pressure
- Epack Durable Pre-IPO Tearsheet
- Georg Fischer/Uponor: Extension of Offer Period

Doosan Robotics IPO – Thoughts on Valuation – A Punt at Best, a Crash at Worst
- Doosan Robotics (DOOSANROBO KS) is looking to raise up to US$314m in its Korean IPO.
- Doosan Robotics (DR) manufactures and sells collaborative robots (Cobots). The firm’s product portfolio primarily includes different series of robot arms as well as its coffee module.
- In our previous notes, we looked at the company’s past performance and undertook a peer comparison. In this note, we talk about valuation.
Auckland Airport Placement – Well Flagged, LO Support but Still a Bit Tricky
- Auckland City Council plans to sell around 4.5% of Auckland Intl Airport (AIA NZ) to fund its budget requirements for 2023-24.
- The deal is very well flagged with Auckland City Council having publicly stated their intention to sell 7% of the stock in Jun 2023.
- In this note, we talk about the deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.
Doosan Robotics IPO: Valuation Insights
- Doosan Robotics (454910 KS) is a global industrial and collaborative robotics leader. It has opened the books on an up to US$318 million IPO.
- We previously discussed the IPO in Doosan Robotics IPO: The Bull Case and Doosan Robotics IPO: The Bear Case.
- In this note, we look at the syndicate’s valuation methodology. Our valuation analysis suggests that the IPO price range is unattractive, and we would pass on the IPO.
Elecon Engineering Co. Ltd- Forensic Analysis
- Elecon Engineering (ELCN IN) (EECL) is one of the renowned manufacturers of Gears, often used in Industrials.
- The company has gathered operational momentum in the last few years, coupled with debt reduction.
- However, its balance sheet still has some concerns that are important. This relates to unaudited subsidiary, fixed asset disposals, write offs and ECL policy and large RPTs.
Lixil (5938 JP): Levered Business Facing Cyclical & Secular Headwinds & Continued Mkt Share Pressure
- 2/3 of sales face secular decline in housing demand/shrinking population and the other 1/3 facing weak housing environment due to rising rates
- Competition from private label and weak trends and ratios exist
- The valuation does not seem to reflect the risks highlighted
Epack Durable Pre-IPO Tearsheet
- Epack Durable (1936389D IN) is looking to raise up to US$100m in its upcoming India IPO. The deal will be run by Axis Capital, DAM Capital and ICICI Securities.
- Epack Durable (ED) is the fastest Indian growing room air conditioner original design manufacturer (ODM) based on growth in volume manufactured between FY20-23 (Year ended 31st Mar), according to F&S.
- Further, it is the second largest ODM manufacturer in the Indian room air conditioner manufacturing market, with 29% market share in terms of volume manufactured in FY23, as per F&S.
Georg Fischer/Uponor: Extension of Offer Period
- Georg Fischer AG (FI/N SW) has so far purchased a 9.5% stake of Uponor OYJ (UNR1V FH) in the market. Georg Fischer’s shareholding plus irrevocable undertakings represent in total 46.4% (30 August).
- There has been no disclosure about the shares tendered so far. Georg Fischer has extended the offer period until 31 October, while waiting to receive clearance from the European Commission.
- Gross spread is 0.03%, so probably it is not worth becoming involved. The reason for this low spread is the acquisition of shares in the market by Georg Fischer.