In today’s briefing:
- If Rakuten (4755) Combines Financial Units… Who Wins and How? Well… It’s Complicated
- Isetan Singapore (ISET SP): Isetan Mitsukoshi (3099 JP)’s 154% Premium Scheme Offer
- KRX Imposes a 20% Cap on Weight Ceiling in Sector ETFs with Few Constituents
- IntelliCentrics (6819 HK): Special Dividend Vote on 18 April
- Isetan Singapore (ISET SP): Mitsukoshi’s BIGLY Premium Offer
- (Mostly) Asia M&A, Mar 2024: Chilled & Frozen, TDCX, MMA Offshore, JSR, Roland DG, SciClone
If Rakuten (4755) Combines Financial Units… Who Wins and How? Well… It’s Complicated
- A couple of years ago, Rakuten (4755 JP) – burning through cash to start its mobile business – announced it would its Bank and Securities units. Bank listed. Securities didn’t.
- Mizuho ended up buying 49% of Securities. Today, it was announced there would be discussions to put Bank, Securities, Card, and Insurance in a new listed Holdco.
- How this works will end up being complicated. More complicated than it should be. But the complexity would make this more of a win-win for everyone.
Isetan Singapore (ISET SP): Isetan Mitsukoshi (3099 JP)’s 154% Premium Scheme Offer
- Isetan Singapore (ISET SP) disclosed privatisation through a scheme of arrangement from Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd (3099 JP) at S$7.20 per share, a 153.5% premium to the last close.
- The high takeover premium reflects the fair value of investment properties of S$300.4 million, i.e., S$7.28 per share, marginally above the offer price.
- The offer is attractive and 2.1% higher than the all-time high. The vote should comfortably get up. The scheme meeting is from early to mid-July.
KRX Imposes a 20% Cap on Weight Ceiling in Sector ETFs with Few Constituents
- KRX limits individual stock weight to 20% in ETFs with few constituents. KRX confirms working on it, with an official announcement expected soon.
- Excludes index ETFs like KOSPI 200. KRX hasn’t finalized criteria for constituent number but expected to involve fewer than 30 stocks.
- This could open new passive trading opportunities. Sector ETF cap at 30%, large AUM ones offer noteworthy trading potential.
IntelliCentrics (6819 HK): Special Dividend Vote on 18 April
- The IntelliCentrics Global Holding (6819 HK) IFA considers the terms for the disposal of assets to symplr software as fair and reasonable. The EGM vote is on 18 April.
- The consideration will be distributed to shareholders as a special dividend with a minimum and maximum of US$0.52 (HK$4.07) and US$0.55 (HK$4.30), respectively.
- Irrevocables ensure that the EGM vote will pass. At the last close and for a 7 May payment, the gross and annualised spread of the minimum dividend is 2.8%/33.6%.
Isetan Singapore (ISET SP): Mitsukoshi’s BIGLY Premium Offer
- Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd (3099 JP), the controlling shareholder of department store operator Isetan Singapore (ISET SP), is offering $7.20/share, by way of a Scheme.
- That’s a whopping 153.5% premium to last close. And a 178.9% premium to ISET’s NAV (as at 31 Dec 2023).
- Apart from Mitsukoshi’s 52.73% stake, no other shareholder has >5%. This is a done deal. But why the large premium?
(Mostly) Asia M&A, Mar 2024: Chilled & Frozen, TDCX, MMA Offshore, JSR, Roland DG, SciClone
- For the month of March 2024, 8 new transactions (firm and non-binding) were discussed on Smartkarma with an overall announced deal size of ~US$4bn.
- The average premium for the new transactions announced (or first discussed) in March was ~55%. The average premium YTD is ~39%.
- This compares to the average premium for transactions in 2023 (117 transactions), 2022 (106), 2021 (165), 2020 (158), and 2019 (145 ) of 39%, 41%, 33%, 31%, and 31% respectively.
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