In today’s briefing:
- ZEEKR (ZK US): Geely Firms Low-Balled Offer. It Is What It Is
- PointsBet (PBH AU): The Battle of Takeover Offers Commences
- Krungthai Card (KTC TB): Buy With Both Hands As Pledged Shares Rollover
- BMPS–Mediobanca: Offer Live, Market Still Says No
ZEEKR (ZK US): Geely Firms Low-Balled Offer. It Is What It Is
- Back on the 7th May, Geely Auto (175 HK), China’s second-largest carmaker, made a US$25.66/ADS non-binding proposal for 62.8%-held ZEEKR (ZK US), a premium Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer
- Yesterday, Geely tweaked and firmed terms at US$26.87/ADS, a 4.7% bump to the original NBIO, and ~3.4% below ZEEKR’s last close. ZEEKR promptly gained 2.4% on the news.
- ZEEKR shareholders also have the option to receive Geely scrip. Given Geely’s and Li Shufu’s (10.61%) holdings – neither are required to abstain on voting – this Offer is done.
PointsBet (PBH AU): The Battle of Takeover Offers Commences
- BETR Entertainment (BBT AU) has despatched the bidder’s statement for PointsBet Holdings (PBH AU) takeover offer. The offer is scheduled to run from July 31 to September 8.
- BBT continues to clutch at straws by claiming its offer is superior to Mixi’s A$1.20 all-cash offer. The Mixi scheme results suggest that BBT has limited support from PBH shareholders.
- BBT will struggle to gain material acceptance, but hints at possible revised terms. Mixi Inc (2121 JP) will also need to reconsider its offer terms to see off BBT.
Krungthai Card (KTC TB): Buy With Both Hands As Pledged Shares Rollover
- Late last month, shares in Krungthai Card (KTC TB), XSpring Capital (XPG TB), BEC World Public (BEC TB), and The Practical Solution (TPS TB) all went limit down. Twice.
- As discussed in Krungthai Card (KTC TB): Buying Opportunity After Margin Call, Mongkol Prakitchaiwattana had pledged his shares in all four companies, reportedly leading to margin calls.
- Yesterday, the SET released an updated list of securities pledged in margin accounts. Notably, pledged shares in KTC has fallen to 3.8% of shares outstanding from 16.3% the previous month.
BMPS–Mediobanca: Offer Live, Market Still Says No
- Market assigns low odds to the current terms, with most of the expected value tied to deal failure or a materially higher exchange ratio.
- BMPS now holds effective control, but the –3.5% spread shows investors doubt the deal will close as is without further sweetening.
- No arbitrage setup is attractive, as convergence to the implied offer still implies a locked-in loss for Mediobanca holders at current market prices.
💡 Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
Sign Up for Free
The Smartkarma Preview Pass is your entry to the Independent Investment Research Network
- ✓ Unlimited Research Summaries
- ✓ Personalised Alerts
- ✓ Custom Watchlists
- ✓ Company Data and News
- ✓ Events & Webinars
