Homeplus Secures 200 Billion Won Emergency Funding, But Hurdles Remain for Normalization

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Homeplus, which had been on the brink of bankruptcy, has revived its hopes for recovery by securing 200 billion won in emergency operating funds. However, there are still many challenges to overcome before its operations can return to normal.

Reporter Jung Jun-ho has the story.

[Reporter]

On July 3, the court terminated the rehabilitation proceedings for Homeplus, citing an insufficient plan to secure 200 billion won in operating funds.

The largest creditor, Meritz Financial Group, and the major shareholder, private equity firm MBK Partners, had struggled to reach an agreement on the funding support plan.

Following mediation efforts from political circles and others, the board of directors at Meritz Financial Group approved a 200 billion won emergency loan today (July 16), on the condition of full joint and several guarantees from MBK and Chairman Kim Byung-ju.

Homeplus stated that the foundation for resuming rehabilitation proceedings has been laid and that it will file an immediate appeal to the court by July 20.

If the court accepts the immediate appeal, the rehabilitation process will resume.

Homeplus announced that it would continue operations at temporarily closed stores and negotiate with the labor union regarding costs, such as severance pay incurred during the store closure process.

[Ahn Su-yong / Head of the Homeplus Branch of the Mart Workers Union: Please join us in ensuring that practical follow-up measures are prepared for management normalization, job security, protection of partner companies and tenants, and the restoration of consumer trust.]

While the path to rehabilitation has opened, there are many tasks to resolve.

First, the company must receive court approval for its rehabilitation plan by September 4.

Given the severity of the situation—which led to the temporary closure of the headquarters and stores on July 13 due to a depletion of funds—the court may demand a more rigorous plan than the one submitted last month.

Restoring broken trust with suppliers is also critical.

[Homeplus Tenant: There are many goods inside the store, and a lot of food items have come in, so the mall can only function if this is normalized.]

Another burden is that a significant portion of the operating funds will be used to pay off 930 billion won in public interest claims, such as payments for goods, which must be settled first.

The company needs to secure additional funds by selling stores and real estate, but it remains unclear whether it will be able to receive a proper valuation for these assets due to declining operational capacity.

(Video Editing: Jung Yong-hwa, VJ: Jung Han-wook)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.