Homeplus Suppliers Object to Rehabilitation Plan Proposing 0.5% Payment on Goods Claims

Suppliers that have yet to receive payment for goods supplied to Homeplus have expressed that they cannot accept the rehabilitation plan's proposal for repaying commercial administrative claims.

The Homeplus Commercial Administrative Claim Council announced on the 27th that it submitted a second statement of opinion to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on the 24th.

According to the rehabilitation plan, 69% of the 63.3 billion won in wages and severance pay will be paid by February 2027, with the remainder fully paid by February 2028.

In contrast, the 503.2 billion won in commercial administrative claims for goods is structured to have only 0.5% repaid by 2028.

The council stated, "We do not object to the priority protection of wage and severance pay claims," while emphasizing that "the commercial administrative claims of suppliers must also be stably protected and repaid on a regular basis within the rehabilitation procedure."

The rehabilitation plan also includes provisions stating that approximately 25 billion won in collateral trust claims held by Meritz affiliates will be repaid immediately, and that senior collateral trust claims amounting to approximately 1.3 trillion won will also be mostly repaid by February 2028.

While wage claims and Meritz Financial collateral trust claims are to be repaid within a short period, the repayment of suppliers' claims is deferred for a long time.

The council stated, "The 0.5% repayment plan is difficult to accept," adding that "fairness among administrative claims must be guaranteed."

Ahead of the September 4 deadline for approving the rehabilitation plan, Homeplus is requesting administrative creditors to consent to the installment repayment of claims.

If the approval rate among administrative creditors is low, the bankruptcy court may determine that the rehabilitation plan is not feasible due to financial burdens and refuse to approve the rehabilitation plan.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.