Daily Brief South Korea: The Pinkfong Company, Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co.,, SBI FinTech Solutions and more

• Our base case valuation of the Pinkfong Co is implied market cap of 671.4 billion won or target price of 46,369 won per share (over the next 6-12 months). 
• This represents a 22% upside to the high end of the IPO price range. Given the reasonable upside, we have a Positive view of the Pinkfong Co IPO.
• Pinkfong Co is one of the most sought-after acquisition candidates in the global animation industry and this is one of the major reasons why it should trade at premium valuation. 

• The increased purchase of Mirae Asset Life Insurance shares by the Mirae Asset Group companies could be a PRELUDE to a potential voluntary delisting of Mirae Asset Life Insurance. 
• We believe that there is a relatively reasonable probability of the Mirae Asset Group taking Mirae Asset Life Insurance private in the next 1-2 years.
• Mirae Asset Life Insurance is trading at only 0.4x P/B. Treasury shares represent 26.3% of its total outstanding shares.

• SBI FinTech Solutions is a Japan-based subsidiary of SBI Holdings, operating primarily in the high-growth Japanese payment gateway and back-office SaaS markets. The company is strategically positioned to benefit from Japan’s government-led push towards digitalization and cashless transactions.
• Financial performance is characterized by extreme volatility. While 3-year net income and free cash flow CAGRs are strongly positive (26.7% and 26.3% respectively), this is off a low base and follows years of negative growth. Revenue has been declining, and the dividend was eliminated in 2024, signaling potential capital allocation pressures or a strategic shift towards reinvestment.
• The company’s valuation appears stretched, with a P/E ratio of over 570x. This is significantly higher than key Japanese payment gateway peers. The high valuation, coupled with volatile financial performance and declining revenue, suggests a high-risk investment profile where the market has priced in substantial future growth that is not yet evident in the top-line trend.

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