In today’s briefing:
- Kioxia (285A JP) Placement: Limited Passive Buying & Big Runup Opens Up More Downside
- Iress (IRE AU): Suitors Engaged, But (Still) Nothing Firm
- National Storage REIT (NSR AU) In Trading Halt Ahead Of Possible Brookfield/GIC Tilt
- SMEC (099440 KS) Pops As SNT Shifts Its Intent
- Priority Technology Faces Management Buyout Proposal Amid Activist Opposition
- POSCO Holdings: Selling Remaining Stake in Nippon Steel in a Block Deal Sale
- Management Buyouts and Litigation Updates: PRTH, KNOP, LEN, ABCP, and NANO Developments in Focus
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.
Iress (IRE AU): Suitors Engaged, But (Still) Nothing Firm
- The board of Iress Ltd (IRE AU), a trading and wealth management software provider, has denied reports in an Australian article concerning a possible takeover from Blackstone.
- The article said that Blackstone was reportedly back in talks for a bid “that could be worth between $11 and $12 per share“. Iress’ share price promptly popped 8% yesterday.
- Iress is still very much in play as it “continues to engage with multiple parties“.
National Storage REIT (NSR AU) In Trading Halt Ahead Of Possible Brookfield/GIC Tilt
- Reportedly, Brookfield and Singapore’s GIC will make an Offer for National Storage REIT (NSR AU), Australia and New Zealand’s largest landlord of self-storage sites .
- The AFR is reporting that Brookfield/GIC are on the cusp of launching a bid around NTA. NSR entered into a trading halt this morning.
- Earlier this year, key peer Abacus Storage King (ASK AU) fielded an NBIO from Ki Corporation/Public Storage (PSA US) at a ~3% premium to NTA; however, Ki/PSA ultimately walked.
SMEC (099440 KS) Pops As SNT Shifts Its Intent
- SNT Holdings (036530 KS) has lifted its stake in SMEC (099440 KS), South Korea’s second-largest machine tool manufacturer, to 13.65% from 8.19%. SNT’s chairman also holds 6.55%, or 20.2% all-in.
- Concurrent with the stake increase, SNT formally declared its equity holding in SMEC to “management participation” from “simple investment“.
- The move could simply be one of SNT aligning its interests with SMEC’s management. But more likely, it’s a precursor to a potential hostile takeover. SMEC is now up ~40%.
Priority Technology Faces Management Buyout Proposal Amid Activist Opposition
- Priority Technology received a non-binding privatization offer from founder Thomas Priore at $6-$6.15/share, with Priore owning 58%.
- Activists Buckley Capital and Steamboat Capital oppose the bid, claiming it undervalues PRTH, suggesting a fair value of $10-$17/share.
- The company’s segments include Merchant Solutions, Payables, and Treasury Solutions, with 64% of adjusted gross profit from recurring revenues.
POSCO Holdings: Selling Remaining Stake in Nippon Steel in a Block Deal Sale
- After the market close on 25 November, it was reported that POSCO Holdings is selling its remaining stake in Nippon Steel Corporation in a block deal sale.
- The block deal sale involves selling the remaining 39.2 million shares of Nippon Steel. The deal is valued at 24.2 billion yen (approximately 227 billion won).
- Given the overall negative sentiment on POSCO’s potential acquisition of HMM, until this uncertainty is resolved, POSCO Holdings’ share price could continue to face stiff headwinds.
Management Buyouts and Litigation Updates: PRTH, KNOP, LEN, ABCP, and NANO Developments in Focus
- Priority Technology (PRTH) received a non-binding privatization offer from its founder at $6-$6.15/share, with activist opposition.
- KNOT Offshore Partners (KNOP) received a non-binding privatization offer at $10/unit, with expectations of a bumped offer.
- Lennar Corporation (LEN) completed a tender offer, with a final exchange ratio of 4.1367x and oversubscription.
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