To privatize or not: The conundrum of Singapore's TDCX

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Hello reader,

What do Burger King and Heinz have in common, apart from the ketchup?

Both traded publicly once, then went back to being privately held. While Burger King was troubled by its falling value, food giant Heinz chose privatization to “expand more aggressively internationally.” Burger King continued this back and forth and later relisted in 2012 before delisting again in 2014.

Going from public to private allows companies time to restructure their business away from the prying eyes of public shareholders and analysts.

In the Big Story this week, my colleague Simon examines why Singapore-based business process outsourcing firm TDCX (TDCX, NYSE) is planning to go private after listing on the New York Stock Exchange just over two years ago. Does this also set precedence for other listed Southeast Asian companies that have struggled since going public?

-- Samreen

THE BIG STORY

TDCX’s CEO aims to delist the BPO firm amidst struggling valuation

The offer price values the company at a trailing twelve-month P/E ratio of 11.2x, significantly below the median P/E ratio for comparable companies.

3 Trends to keep an eye on

Hot stocks, earnings reports, restructuring, pressure from activist investors, and more.

1?? Crypto apps bite the dust on Apple (AAPL, NDAQ) store in India: Top crypto apps such as Binance, OKX, and Kucoin were removed from the Apple app store in India after the government issued show-cause notices to nine such apps for not complying with local tax rules.

This gives an opportunity to homegrown players such as CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX to fill the void in the country’s near US$340 million crypto market.

2?? Amazon (AMZN, NDAQ) to lay off hundreds more: Amazon is cutting several hundreds of jobs in its streaming and studio departments as layoffs by the technology giant spill into 2024. The US-based company last year laid off nearly 27,000 employees from its global workforce. This points to a longer winter for technology companies, with layoff fears looming over their employees.

For instance, Lazada, which is owned by Alibaba (BABA, NYSE), recently let go of nearly 30% of its staff.

3?? Microsoft (MSFT, NDAQ) may topple Apple: Microsoft is all set to take over Apple as the most valuable company in the world. This points to a drop in demand for Apple's flagship iPhones. The sales for the smartphone already fell 30% in China in the first week of 2024, despite discounts by Apple in the region.

In comparison, homegrown competitor Huawei saw flat growth during the period, indicating that there will be fierce competition between the two players in the coming days.

2 Eye-popping facts

Tech in Asia scours the internet to bring you head-turning numbers from the world of business.

• 1,000: The number of stores Starbucks (SBUX, NDAQ) plans to operate in India by 2028.
• 100,000: The number of developers Microsoft is going to train in India for AI-related technologies.

The one you didn’t see coming

We spotlight the story that had everyone talking and social media buzzing during the past week.

Big-bang IPOs in 2024: The new year started on a gloomy note for many startups and tech behemoths, with news of layoffs and shutdowns continuing to rattle the technology world. Even as clouds of crisis hover over the tech ecosystem, many new age companies could see a turnaround in their fate as they line up to list in India.

Several startups, including Mobikwik, FirstCry, and Ola Electric, are planning big-ticket listings in 2024. While baby products-focused ecommerce platform FirstCry is anticipated to list at a valuation between US$3.5 billion and US$3.7 billion, fintech startup Mobikwik is eyeing to raise US$84 million in its IPO. Meanwhile, Ola Electric has ambitions to raise US$1 billion in its public listing.

Hospitality firm Oyo and online pharma company PharmEasy, who delayed their listings last year, could also be back to the market with their respective IPOs in 2024.

That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it!

Happy investing and see you next week!

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only. Kindly do not construe any such information as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.