Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Nearly 25 years of experience in analyzing hundreds of companies, especially in Asia. Deep expertise in the following sectors:
- Technology (E-commerce, SaaS, Internet)
- Consumer 
- Special Situations/Deep Value Plays
- Holdcos/Stubs
- Asian Unicorns/Private Companies

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

End of Lock-Up Periods for Kakao Pay, Kakao Bank, Krafton, HHI, & SD Biosensor in 1Q 2022

End of Mandatory Lock-Up Periods for 44 Stocks in Korea in February 2022

End of Mandatory Lock-Up Periods for 43 Stocks in Korea in March 2022

End of the 1 Month Lockup Period for Krafton & An Excessive Pricing Gap Vs. NCsoft

SK IE Technology: Potential Selling Likely Caused by the End of the Lock-Up Period

Kakao Bank - A Sharp Increase in Fraudulent Accounts

The Blockchain Delusion. A (Mostly) Bearish Investment Thesis.

Event-Driven

In this insight, we discuss the end of lock-up periods for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/hyundai-heavy-industries-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33808:1" rel="noopener">Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180 KS)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/sk-ie-technology" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29207:1" rel="noopener">SK IE Technology (361610 KS)</a>,<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/krafton-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28956:1" rel="noopener"> Krafton Inc (259960 KS)</a>, and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakaobank-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33501:1" rel="noopener">KakaoBank (323410 KS)</a> in 4Q 2021 and 1Q 2022. <ul>
<li>In particular, there are lock up periods ending for these four stocks in November and December.</li>
<li>There are also end of lock-up periods for Krafton and Kakao Bank in early February 2022.</li>
<li>Typically, investors tend to focus on the end of the lock-up periods in Korea about 1-2 months ahead of the actual end of these lock-up periods.</li>
</ul>In addition to analyzing the end of these lock-up periods, we analyze the recent shorts balance of these stocks in recent weeks. <hr><ul>
<li>Although Kakao Bank's share price has performed well since the IPO (up 54% from IPO price), its share price is down 22% from the end of the one month lock-up period. The amount of shares that could be sold after the end of the three months and six months lock-up periods are much bigger (18.3 million shares combined) as compared to the 3.1 million shares that could be sold after the one month lock-up period. Therefore, there are continued concerns about additional selling of Kakao Bank shares in November (after the end of the three months lock-up period).</li>
<li>
Krafton's share price has not performed well after the IPO (down 2% from the IPO price of 498,000 won). With the upcoming end of the 3 month lock-up period, there could be continued negative pressure for additional selling from the existing shareholders.</li>
</ul>

In this insight, we discuss the end of lock-up periods for Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180 KS), SK IE Technology (361610 KS), Krafton Inc (259960 KS), and KakaoBank (323410 KS) in 4Q 2021 and 1Q 2022. 
In particular, there are lock up periods ending for these four stocks in November and December.
There are also end of lock-up periods for Krafton and Kakao Bank in early February 2022.
Typically, investors tend to focus on the end of the lock-up periods in Korea about 1-2 months ahead of the actual end of these lock-up periods.
In addition to analyzing the end of these lock-up periods, we analyze the recent shorts balance of these stocks in recent weeks. 
Although Kakao Bank's share price has performed well since the IPO (up 54% from IPO price), its share price is down 22% from the end of the one month lock-up period. The amount of shares that could be sold after the end of the three months and six months lock-up periods are much bigger (18.3 million shares combined) as compared to the 3.1 million shares that could be sold after the one month lock-up period. Therefore, there are continued concerns about additional selling of Kakao Bank shares in November (after the end of the three months lock-up period).

Krafton's share price has not performed well after the IPO (down 2% from the IPO price of 498,000 won). With the upcoming end of the 3 month lock-up period, there could be continued negative pressure for additional selling from the existing shareholders.


End of Lock-Ups for Kakao Bank, Krafton, SK IET, & HHI in 4Q 2021 and Increasing Short Volumes