Homeplus Urges Creditors to Agree on Installment Payments for Public-Interest Claims, Warning of Greater Damage in Event of Bankruptcy

Homeplus announced that it has requested public-interest creditors to agree to the installment repayment of claims in order to carry out rehabilitation procedures.

In an official statement released today (August 28), Homeplus stated, "The success of our rehabilitation depends on securing agreement for the installment repayment of public-interest claims. Given the scale of these claims, a high level of consent must be achieved for our rehabilitation plan to be deemed feasible."

As the Seoul Bankruptcy Court has instructed Homeplus to obtain consent for installment repayments from public-interest creditors, the company is currently seeking agreement from its employees and suppliers.

As of yesterday, 9,571 individual and institutional creditors had agreed to the installment repayment of public-interest claims.

The overall approval rate stood at 58.1%, with suppliers recording an approval rate of 62.4% and employees recording 87.2%, the company stated.

Homeplus public-interest claims include unpaid wages, severance pay, and unpaid supplier payments (commercial claims).

The total scale is estimated at around 930 billion won.

Among them, unpaid supplier payments reportedly amount to 503.2 billion won.

Homeplus argued, "If we fail to secure additional consent, leading to the termination of rehabilitation procedures and a transition to bankruptcy, claim recovery rates will drop and the repayment period will stretch out, potentially resulting in even greater losses for creditors."

Homeplus has proposed paying off 100% of the public-interest claims to public-interest creditors within three years.

Regarding plans to prioritize the repayment of real estate trust collateral bonds over public-interest claims, Homeplus explained, "Under the law, the proceeds from the sale of real estate subject to security rights must be used to repay the loans of trust collateral bondholders first, leaving no other option."

Meanwhile, the consultative body of Homeplus commercial public-interest creditors, composed of suppliers, issued a statement yesterday pointing out fairness issues, noting that approximately 25 billion won in collateral trust bonds held by Meritz affiliates were being repaid immediately.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.