KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): Analysts are positive on Inari Amertron Bhd’s RM1.07 billion private placement.

In a note, TA Securities Research analyst Wilson Loo pointed out that while the proposed private placement will be dilutive to earnings per share (EPS) on the onset, he is positive on the move as the proceeds raised will bode well and come in handy, especially for sizeable and accretive acquisitions and investments, while also alleviating potential stress on its balance sheet.

“More notably, by pursuing a private placement, Inari will also have the opportunity to rope in strategic investors to realise synergies,” he said.

Loo said if Inari is able to raise RM1.07 billion from the exercise, he estimates the company's cash position will more than double to RM1.82 billion, from RM755 million at the end of the first quarter of the calendar year 2021 (1Q21).

At the same time, a private placement of 10% of its total issued shares is expected to have an EPS dilution of 9.1%.

Loo has maintained his target price (TP) of RM4.33 and “buy” call on the stock.

Meanwhile, PublicInvest Research’s Chua Siu Li was also positive on the move, as the funds are necessary for the firm to expand and grow at a faster pace.

“The current global chips shortage will boost the need for more assembly and testing services; therefore, any investments and capacity expansions will be timely, allowing Inari to ride on and better benefit from the upcycle,” Chua said.

Based on an enlarged share base of 3.77 billion shares (which includes the placement shares and 91.5 million employee share options scheme [ESOS] options being fully exercised), the impact of EPS on the group will be around 11%. Chua maintained the research house's “outperform” call and RM4.40 TP.

RHB Research’s Lee Meng Horng pointed out that the group is setting on RM755 million in net cash as of the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (2QFY21) and operations cash flow generation ability exceeding RM300 million a year, combined with the RM1.07 billion to be raised in the proposed placement, does allude to a potential imminent sizeable merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunity that is value accretive, especially after weighing its prudent capital expenditure (capex) investment cycle over the past few years.

“Besides, raising its war chest in such a prevailing upcycle market valuation could be optimal from its capital structure point of view,” Lee noted.

The RHB analyst said that on a pro forma basis, the EPS dilution would be at 9.1% on the assumption that the maximum scenario under the placement is achieved. Net assets per share could rise to 65 sen, while net cash share may increase to 54 sen, from 23 sen currently.

When contacted, one anonymous analyst viewed that deploying a private placement is a faster way of raising funds versus a cash call such as a rights issue.

“In this current environment, it is now a great time to raise money via a share placement. However, it may not be such a good time to conduct M&A activities because of the high valuations involved in the sector,” the analyst noted.

As such, given Inari’s conservative M&A track record, the analyst expects a sensible investment to be made by Inari and that it should be within the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) space. Still, the analyst said this is contingent on Inari securing a good deal for any potential M&A targets.

The analyst was cautious over the placement in general. While a private placement means more expeditious fundraising, shareholders would have to put faith in Inari that it will eventually make a purchase that delivers value, in contrast to the group announcing from the get-go that it would be acquiring a specific company.

The company announced yesterday to Bursa Malaysia that it wants to raise up to RM1.07 billion via a private share placement to be used for capex, acquisitions and investments.

Under its proposed placement, Inari will issue up to 333 million new shares — which accounts for 10% of its share capital — to third party investors at an indicative price of RM3.20 a share.

The placement is expected to be completed in the second half of 2021, the group said, adding that its share capital will rise to 3.77 billion shares after the placement and the full exercise of the group's ESOS.

The private placement is the largest among local semiconductor-related firms which seek to take advantage of the current share price rally.

At noon market close, shares in Inari were 2.76% or nine sen lower at RM3.17, valuing it at RM10.59 billion. It saw 7.32 million shares done.