Daily Brief Industrials: Archion, Kingboard Laminates, easyJet PLC, Kitagawa Seiki, BlackBuck, SpaceX, Locus Robotics, Edenred and more

• After the Nikkei’s article Friday, at the lunch break today, Archion (543A JP) announced Daimler Truck and Toyota Motor (7203 JP) would each sell 394mm shares in an offering.
• The offering will have a greenshoe of 118.2mm shares so the total comes to 906mm shares, to be priced 22-27 Dec and placed 5 days later.
• The price is lower as the stock is lower. Some index demand now, more later. It is a re-IPO with the offering size at 600% of current MaxRealWorldFloat.

• Archion (543A JP) has announced a secondary offering of 787.9 million shares (906.0 million including overallotment), worth around US$1.4 billion (US$1.7 billion including overallotment).
• The offering was expected, as it would enable Toyota Motor and Daimler Truck to reduce their respective shareholdings to 25% of the total shares, thereby increasing the tradable share ratio.
• The offering, as a percentage of outstanding shares, is the fourth-highest, and, in terms of ADV, the highest among large Japanese placements since 2021. 

• The Hang Seng Index is the benchmark index for Hong Kong stocks. It follows a highly-subjective selection process which makes it difficult to predict index changes.
• In this insight, we take a look at a group of names with reasonably high likelihood of being involved in index changes during the next review in September 2026.
• The index changes are expected to be confirmed on 21st August 2026.

• Toyota Motor (7203 JP) and Daimler Truck Holding (DTG GR) (DT) are looking to raise up to US$1.7bn via selling around 35% of their stake in Archion (543A JP).
• The news of the possible deal was already out last week and the deal terms are somewhat along expected lines.
• We have looked at most aspects of the deal in our earlier note. In this note, we will talk about the recent updates.

• The RNS confirms agreement in principle on the key financial terms of a recommended 690p/share cash offer and extends Castlelake’s Rule 2.6 deadline to 3 August 2026.
• The proposal remains subject to due diligence, definitive documentation and agreement of the partial unlisted share alternative. The 690p consideration is explicitly stated on a cum-dividend basis.
• EasyJet shares have risen to 613.8p, narrowing the spread to 12.4%. We maintain our 690p target price and continue to view execution, rather than valuation, as the principal remaining risk.

• LIM Advisors built to 18% then fully exited by March — the largest holder saw little value.
• Market pricing Kitagawa as a structural compounder at 55x EBITDA; it is a cyclical equipment supplier with lumpy revenues and no asset floor.
• Yesterday’s -17% drop on AI unwind confirms high thematic beta; with the “activist” money out, downside risk growing.

• BlackBuck is India’s largest digital trucking platform. In FY26, revenue grew 53% to INR 651.9 crore and PAT turned positive at INR 160.3 crore.
• The platform serves 8.18 lakh monthly truckers, with INR 25,905 crore tolling GTV. High-margin operations and cross-sell deepen the platform advantage.
• BlackBuck has moved from turnaround to profitable scale-up. The next test is whether SuperLoads and vehicle finance can become meaningful standalone growth engines.

• If you have even a remote interest in the stock market (and if not, why the heck are you reading my newsletter?), then it has probably not escaped your attention that we have recently witnessed the largest IPO in history, with SpaceX raising $75B at a valuation of $1.8T.
• As of mid-June, the stock has risen almost 50%, meaning SpaceX’s market value has now crossed $2.5T, a valuation of over 130x revenues. Yes, you read that right.
• Not only does the valuation seem outright outrageous, but the company’s value proposition for creating shareholder value also reads somewhat vaguely.

• Sacra estimates Locus Robotics hit $180M ARR in June 2026, up from $165M at the end of 2025, valued at $2B as of its 2022 Series F for a ~20x multiple on $100M ARR.
• Finding product-market fit with the high-volume, piece-picking 3PL operations (DHL, GEODIS) and then expanding into retail (Carhartt), industrial (Brother Gearmotors, Kimball Midwest) and healthcare (Cardinal Health, UPS Healthcare), Sacra estimates.
• Locus has progressed closer to full end-to-end automation, most recently with Array (April 2026), a 10-foot robot with integrated arm that picks, replenishes shelves, counts & sorts packages, taking over ~90% of all warehouse tasks.

• Leading Digital Platform with Diversified Operations: Edenred is a global leader in specific-purpose payment solutions, operating a B2B2C digital platform that connects over 60 million users with 2 million merchants across 45 countries. The company’s operations are diversified across Employee Benefits (65% of revenue), Fleet & Mobility, and Complementary Solutions, which mitigates sector-specific risks.
• Consistent Growth and Strong Financial Profile: The company has a proven track record of delivering profitable growth, with double-digit revenue and net income CAGRs over the past 3, 5, and 10-year periods. Its asset-light, scalable business model generates strong recurring revenue, high EBITDA margins (over 40%), and significant free cash flow.
• Strategic Focus on Digitalization and Expansion: Under its ‘Amplify 25-28’ strategic plan, Edenred is focused on expanding its user base and increasing revenue per user by investing heavily in technology, data, and AI. The strategy includes attracting new clients in underpenetrated markets, cross-selling its diverse portfolio, and monetizing its user platform, with a goal of reaching over €5 billion in revenue by 2030.

This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.