Homeplus Aims to Resume Operations Next Month Following 200 Billion Won Funding

Homeplus, which had been on the brink of bankruptcy, is pushing to resume operations in August after securing 200 billion won in emergency funding.
Homeplus filed an immediate appeal today (July 20) against the Seoul Bankruptcy Court's decision to terminate its rehabilitation proceedings.
If the court accepts the appeal, the deadline for the approval of Homeplus's rehabilitation plan could be extended until September 4 at the latest.
Along with the review of the appeal, the court is expected to proceed with the approval process for the execution of Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) financing from Meritz Financial Group.
Once the court approves the DIP financing from Meritz Financial Group, the 200 billion won currently held in an escrow account will be transferred to Homeplus's account.
Industry insiders generally believe that the likelihood of the court accepting the appeal has increased with this funding, as the failure to secure the 200 billion won—the minimum operating capital required for rehabilitation—was the decisive reason for the previous termination of the proceedings.
Based on these funds, Homeplus plans to persuade suppliers to resume shipments and normalize its hypermarket operations as soon as possible.
Homeplus has not been operating its hypermarket stores since July 13 due to a depletion of operating funds.
As time is needed to receive goods from suppliers and normalize the stores currently under suspension, the company is internally targeting early August for the resumption of operations.
It is reported that Homeplus held an internal meeting today to discuss a plan to normalize operations at 67 stores next month, focusing on receiving initial supplies of fresh food and groceries from vendors.
While typical hypermarkets display a wide range of products including fresh food, groceries, daily necessities, fashion apparel, and home appliances, the company intends to focus first on securing a selection of fresh food and groceries.
This is interpreted as a determination to resolve the issues faced just before the suspension of operations, when the company was unable to receive fresh food—which has a fast turnover—and was forced to sell items like frying pans and pots on fresh food shelves.
To achieve this, restoring trust with suppliers is an urgent priority. Given that the average outstanding payment per small and medium-sized supplier is 774 million won, the process of normalizing supply is expected to be challenging.
Another variable is that a significant number of Homeplus headquarters staff, excluding on-site hypermarket employees, have already resigned.
If the supply situation does not improve significantly, there is a possibility that operations will resume at only a portion of the 67 stores.
As the court must decide in September whether to approve the Homeplus rehabilitation plan or terminate the proceedings and liquidate the corporation, Homeplus is expected to focus on proving its viability by prioritizing core stores that generate profits.
The largest shareholder, MBK Partners, plans to normalize Homeplus operations and pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for remaining business divisions, such as the hypermarkets.
Homeplus stated, "With the 200 billion won in operating funds secured, we expect the rehabilitation proceedings to be extended through this immediate appeal," adding, "We plan to resume operations as soon as the rehabilitation proceedings are extended and the DIP loan is received."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.