In today’s briefing:
- Crime Scene Investigation: How Seven&I (3382-JP) Murdered the ACT (ATD-CA) Deal
- Japan Activism Briefs | Noritake, Square Enix, Eiken Chemical
- Meta Scores Big with PlayAI Acquisition—Here’s What It Means for AI’s Future!
- Which Dividend Diamonds Will Sparkle?
- Korea Surpasses France as Top Exporter of Cosmetics to the USA [CJ Olive Young – Key Beneficiary]
- BHP Group: Initiation of Coverage- Inside the $4.4 Billion Profit Engine Fueling the Next Commodity Supercycle!
- Bajaj Finance CEO Resignation: Rajeev Jain Returns, But Succession Looms Large
- Asian Equities: Revisiting Indian Mid-Caps After Sharp Outperformance – A New Quant Screen
- HEG IN – Graphite Leader Expands into Anodes; Capacity Edge and Battery Optionality Key
- Markets in Motion: Turnover Gains Spark Sharper Spreads
Crime Scene Investigation: How Seven&I (3382-JP) Murdered the ACT (ATD-CA) Deal
- Alimentation Couche-Tard just withdrew their offer to buy Seven&i for $47.2bn, and within two days, Seven’s share price is down 12.5% and ACT’s is up 10.6%.
- Seven’s management deluded itself into thinking it could match ACT’s returns by selling off non-core assets. This is pure financial gimmickry, and the market sees right through it.
- Seven will never see a deal as good as the one ACT offered, and failing to capitalize on should be investigated as a potential crime against common sense.
Japan Activism Briefs | Noritake, Square Enix, Eiken Chemical
- Noritake – Despite strong profits from semiconductor ceramics, lack of strategy for underperforming segments and idle assets invites activist pressure for structural reform.
- Square Enix – New turnaround plan lacks clear KPIs and capital discipline, prompting activists to demand sharper execution and improved shareholder returns.
- Eiken Chemical – Activists gained board influence through compromise, advancing governance reform and signaling momentum toward a potential buyout.
Meta Scores Big with PlayAI Acquisition—Here’s What It Means for AI’s Future!
- In the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence, Meta has doubled down on voice-driven innovation by snapping up PlayAI, a nimble startup renowned for its natural-sounding speech synthesis and user-friendly voice-creation platform.
- With more than 3.4 billion daily users across its apps and nearly one billion monthly users of its Meta AI service, the company is eager to integrate PlayAI’s specialized talent directly into Meta Superintelligence Labs.
- This move arrives just after Meta rolled out Llama 4 models and launched its stand-alone Meta AI app, signaling an all-in push toward multimodal, conversational AI.
Which Dividend Diamonds Will Sparkle?
- Singapore’s yield superiority is not restricted to the REIT and Banking Sectors.
- There are 13 stocks (that are not REITs or Banks) that have been identified as high performing dividend stocks.
- These stocks trade more than US$3m ADT in the last six months and are outside the REIT and Banking sectors.
Korea Surpasses France as Top Exporter of Cosmetics to the USA [CJ Olive Young – Key Beneficiary]
- Korea surpassed France as the top exporter of cosmetics to the USA in 2024. Korea exported $1.7 billion worth of cosmetics to the USA in 2024, up 54.2% YoY.
- CJ Olive Young’s online cosmetic sales to overseas markets soared 70% YoY in 1H 2025, fueled largely by the explosive demand from the United States.
- We have raised our NAV valuation of CJ Corp to 207,713 won per share (up 28%). We raised the valuation of CJ Olive Young to 7 trillion won.
BHP Group: Initiation of Coverage- Inside the $4.4 Billion Profit Engine Fueling the Next Commodity Supercycle!
- BHP Group Limited’s performance in the first half of the 2025 financial year illustrates a mix of strategic advancements and operational challenges in its diverse portfolio.
- The first half results showcase several strengths and areas for further focus as the company navigates a complex global mining landscape.
- A key positive from BHP’s recent performance is the record output in its Western Australian iron ore operations, which achieved the lowest production costs globally.
Bajaj Finance CEO Resignation: Rajeev Jain Returns, But Succession Looms Large
- Anup Saha’s sudden resignation as MD of Bajaj Finance Ltd (BAF IN), just three months into the role, raises succession planning concerns.
- The architect of BAF’s growth resumes full control as VC & MD until March 2028, ensuring near-term continuity.
- While operations remain stable, the event sharpens focus on long-term leadership depth in India’s most premium NBFC.
Asian Equities: Revisiting Indian Mid-Caps After Sharp Outperformance – A New Quant Screen
- Since inception on February 27, our equal-weighted Indian Mid-Cap basket has appreciated 29.4%, sharply outperforming the BSE Mid-Cap Index (18.6%). We revisit our basket and apply the relevant screens again.
- We screen on minimum 10% EPS CAGR over next two years, maximum PEG of 1.3x, consensus rating of buy/overweight and upward revision in consensus EPS estimate over past 6 months.
- 14 stocks come up in our new India Mid-Caps basket – fewer than the 20 that we had earlier. Four stocks are common with the previous basket.
HEG IN – Graphite Leader Expands into Anodes; Capacity Edge and Battery Optionality Key
- Q4 FY25 delivered best operational quarter with 27% EBITDA margin and steady 80–85% utilization despite global steel demand weakness.
- Expanding graphite electrodes to 100 ktpa, commissioning 20 ktpa anode plant by FY27, and deepening exposure via GrafTech stake.
- Base case SOTP implies Rs614/share, valuing core at 8× EV/EBITDA and anode business at 2.5× invested capital.
Markets in Motion: Turnover Gains Spark Sharper Spreads
- Sanli Environmental and mDR saw significant increases in average daily trading turnover, with returns of 98.9% and 137.5% respectively.
- Q&M Dental led net institutional inflows with S$7.68 million, alongside increased CEO ownership and active share buybacks.
- OKP Holdings secured a S$258 million contract, boosting its order book to S$736 million, with visibility to 2031.
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