Alibaba, The Place Holdings, CureVac - Great opportunities lie here!

CureVac - The pressure is mounting

The disputes over AstraZeneca's vaccine are followed by Johnson & Johnson's suspension of the drug's supply. There seems to be no end to the German vaccination disaster. Now the SPD health expert and regular guest on the show "Markus Lanz," Karl Lauterbach, is speaking out. This time not, as usual, to admonish, but to demand. According to a Spiegel interview, he is demanding that Germany prepare an emergency approval for CureVac. If the vaccine works as well as BioNTech or Moderna, it should be "approved and vaccinated as quickly as possible." Initially, the Tübingen-based Company planned EU approval of the CureVac vaccine for early June.

An advanced study is currently ongoing in Europe and Latin America with around 35,000 participants on the vaccine's effectiveness. From a chart perspective, the Tübingen share was able to break out of the corridor formed since the beginning of March at around EUR 80 yesterday following the statements. The next price target is currently EUR 92.50. It would not be surprising if the share targeted its all-time high of EUR 109.54 in the next few weeks due to the upcoming news flow.

The Place Holdings - Unique mix

Corona threatens the extinction of the city centers in Germany. New concepts are needed. When it comes to visions, it is worth taking a look at Asia, as is the case with many things. Here, The Place Investment Group, a billion-dollar company from China, has been operating its key project "The Place" since 2006, consisting of two office buildings, a high-quality retail center and Asia's largest sky screen, measuring 250 meters by 30 meters. With its mix of fashion, relaxation, entertainment and culture, "The Place" forms the basis for developing new retail concepts as an omnichannel real estate platform. With The Place Holdings listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange since 2016 and in Frankfurt since the beginning of the year, the business model is now to be further expanded and refined.

Although major cities are up to date in terms of modern lifestyle, much of China is still in a construction phase in terms of project and urban development. Here, the Company aims to uniquely combine the three business pillars of real estate development and management, cultural tourism and integrated media. The Company's goal is to purchase underutilized assets to revitalize them with innovative management concepts from advertising, shopping and entertainment.

With EUR 46 million currently in the bank, the debt-free company has already acquired three acquisitions with different objectives since 2019. In April 2019, The Place Holdings secured a freehold property previously known as Realty Centre for the equivalent of EUR 93.0 million. Here, management is speculating on the entitlement to
Bonus property ratios of between 25% to 30% if a change of use occurs under the Central Business District (CBD) Incentive Scheme. In November 2020, the subscription of an 80% equity stake in Tianjie Yuntai Wanrun Property Development, which owns approximately 270,500 square meters of commercial space in the southeast of Mount Yuntai. The area around the Wanrun Property has seen significant development and the Group is currently in the midst of the land zoning change process. Doing so will increase gross floor area and provide access to a broader group of interested buyers.

A strategically significant step for the future was taken through the strategic partnership with MCC Land, an established developer in Singapore. Thus, a 20% stake was taken in MCC Land's mixed development project adjacent to the Tanah Merah MRT interchange. The mixed development site has a land area of 8,880 square meters and can provide 265 condominiums and 2,000 square meters of commercial space. The Place Holdings Limited operates in an extreme growth market and is traded in Germany and its home exchange in Singapore. The Place Holdings has a market capitalization of EUR 485 million. With the rise in property price levels in the emerging Chinese housing market, investors can directly benefit in the long run.

Alibaba - Painful cuts

As expected, the Chinese government's battle against Alibaba is entering the next round. The record fine of EUR 2.3 billion against the Company last week was somewhat symbolic and is easy to get over due to the profit of EUR 10 billion in the past three months. More challenging now are the latest pinpricks against the subsidiary Ant Group, including the payment service Alipay. Thus, regulators have ordered a restructuring of the financial Company. Ant Group must transform itself into a financial holding company, subject to the supervisory authorities like a bank. As a result, it must meet stricter requirements and hold more liquidity.

The Company would have to accept the authorities' stricter supervision and stop "illegal" activities in loans, insurance and asset management. High financial charges and risks of its financial services must be better controlled, the authorities demand. These measures are causing the Company's value, which was worth USD 280 billion when it went public, to fall tremendously. Due to the uncertainties regarding the valuation and possible further burdensome measures, we do not recommend investing in Alibaba for the time being.