Asean-focused. Ex-Head of Thai Research

Athaporn Arayasantiparb, CFA

Athaporn served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 22 years, of which 19 were in research and 9 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006.

Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also performs financial advisory services for TKC Services and provides 11 other on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely:

1) Snippets (news-driven);
2) Sathorn Series (financial services);
3) Silicon Stories (technology); 
4) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin series);
5) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative);
6) Thai Media Spotlight;
7) Political Pit Stop; 
8) Telecom Review; 
9) Thai Macro Watch (read-through from foreign events);  
10) Small Cap Diary; and
11) Property Grid

There are also 3 limited-time series driven by specific events or locations, namely:
1) Thai Corona Crisis;
2) South Series; and
3) Mechanics and Details (deal forensics).

BTS and Bangkok Airways, UTaPao Brother-In-Arms

IPO Radar (Part 1): Kerry Express, the Engine Powering Thai E-Commerce

IPO Radar (Part 2): KEX, Valuation & Risk

IVL: Takeover of Euro Car Tire Material Maker to Speed Growth

Asean (Thailand) Focused Independent Research

M Corp Review

M Corp is led by Athaporn Arayasantiparb who served as Head of Research for UOB and ANZ in Thailand and was an award-winning telecoms analyst at UBS in 2010 (AsiaMoney Thailand category) and Regional Strategist for DMG in Singapore. Prior to that, he also served as Kasikornbank credit analyst and scholar. He has a total work experience of 17 years, of which 14 were in research and 4 in research management roles. He started his career as an engineer for PTT and currently manages family investments. He holds an MBA from Stern (NYU) and CFA Charter since 2006. Apart from IPO Radar, which focuses on future listings, MCorp Review also provides six on-going thematic series ranked by frequency in descending order, namely: 1) Silicon Stories (technology) 2) Sathorn Series (financial services) 3) Thai-Coons (billionaire origin stories) 4) Reality Check (data-driven, investigative) 5) Thai Media Spotlight; and 6) Thai Macro Watch (global market drivers).

Equity Bottom-Up

Thai Airways International / Equity Bottom-Up

Five interesting news/development we noticed recently that may affect Thai equities include:<ul>
<li>
Sayonara to Thai retail. Japanese retailer Isetan announces plans to leave Thailand after 28 years. Max Valu, a unit of  financier AEONTS, also plans to close down 20 of its Tanjai stores.</li>
<li>
The government announces a Bt54bn bailout of Thai Airways, but quickly runs into a slew of problems with the union, the company's operating loss, and multiple critics.</li>
<li>
Singha's Machida teams up with Bonchon to come up with a new flavor. Interestingly, they are the only brand still growing in 2019. </li>
<li>
Change of Guard. In the last few years, we noticed that a number of major business groups in Thailand have changed leadership either through deaths or retirement of their tycoons, including BEC, King Power, KBANK, LH, BDMS, and most recently Bangkok Land.</li>
<li>
JMART, Kookmin gets into credit cards with a new joint venture. The deal involves new share issuance and would dilute JMART's holdings in J Fintech.</li>
</ul>

Five interesting news/development we noticed recently that may affect Thai equities include:

Sayonara to Thai retail. Japanese retailer Isetan announces plans to leave Thailand after 28 years. Max Valu, a unit of  financier AEONTS, also plans to close down 20 of its Tanjai stores.

The government announces a Bt54bn bailout of Thai Airways, but quickly runs into a slew of problems with the union, the company's operating loss, and multiple critics.

Singha's Machida teams up with Bonchon to come up with a new flavor. Interestingly, they are the only brand still growing in 2019. 

Change of Guard. In the last few years, we noticed that a number of major business groups in Thailand have changed leadership either through deaths or retirement of their tycoons, including BEC, King Power, KBANK, LH, BDMS, and most recently Bangkok Land.

JMART, Kookmin gets into credit cards with a new joint venture. The deal involves new share issuance and would dilute JMART's holdings in J Fintech.


Snippets #40: Thai Airways Bailout, Tycoon Successions