In today’s briefing:
- Hollysys (HOLI US) Suspends Proposal Evaluations As Fourth Bid Emerges
- The Precap from SPAC Track
- U.S. Equity Strategy: Index Supports Breaking; Upgrading and Buying Utilities
- IPAR: 2021 Momentum Continues in 2022
- Sporting Crypto: The Artificial Intelligence Football Association
Hollysys (HOLI US) Suspends Proposal Evaluations As Fourth Bid Emerges
- Hollysys Automation Technology (HOLI US) has announced it will suspend further evaluation of all unsolicited buyout proposals that the company has received.
- Concurrently, a new buyer consortium has pitched a non-binding Offer of US$25/share. There is no SEC filing on this proposal nor does it appear on HOLI’s website.
- Shares closed ~13% down on the suspension news. Presumably, the evaluation cessation encompasses the most recent proposal.
The Precap from SPAC Track
- Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp. (CRHC: warrants closed Friday’s session at +8.9%) & Allwyn Entertainment
- Wynn Resorts scrapped the blank-check merger [with Austerlitz Acquisition Corp I (AUS)] last November, citing promotional spending in the US sports betting industry.
- Merger Vote Set: Novus Capital Corporation II (NXU) & Energy Vault: 2/10
U.S. Equity Strategy: Index Supports Breaking; Upgrading and Buying Utilities
- Indexes continue to violate our key supports as the Russell 2000 (IWM) broke below $208, the S&P 500 broke below 4495, and the equal-weighted Nasdaq 100 (QQEW) broke below $109.
- This type of damage paints a bearish picture at the index level, and will take some time to repair.
- Now that key supports have been violated, we are monitoring for oversold conditions that could mark a bottom, and it is possible that was yesterday (Jan. 24).
IPAR: 2021 Momentum Continues in 2022
- IPAR updated its fourth quarter 2021 outlook by raising its sales forecast for the period. IPAR’s management had expressed caution when IPAR reported third quarter results
- IPAR is forecasting Q4 sales of $210.8 million compared to our estimate of $144.7 million. The initial guidance IPAR had provided was conservative and based on limited clarity
- IPAR remains one of our favorite growth stories in 2022. IPAR has expanded its brand portfolio and has a fragrance lineup that should result in sales growing by double digits
Sporting Crypto: The Artificial Intelligence Football Association
- ASM’s (Altered State Mind) latest project; AIFA (Artificial Intelligence Football Association), is truly fascinating
ASM’s headline is ‘Make trainable AI-powered agents. Own and trade them using NFTs’
- AIFA is an animated NFT collection, where the characters are useable in the AIFA-verse to play a 4vs4 football game
Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
