JoongAng Ilbo Rejects Hanyang Securities' Early Repayment Request for Commercial Paper, Citing "Difficulty in Individual Settlement"

JoongAng Ilbo has stated that it cannot fulfill an individual request for early repayment of commercial paper (CP) from Hanyang Securities, which holds 22 billion won worth of the company's debt.

JoongAng Ilbo announced that Hanyang Securities requested early repayment today (June 18) for 12 billion won in CP maturing on December 7 of this year and 10 billion won in CP maturing on March 30 of next year.

JoongAng Ilbo explained that this request was made "due to the occurrence of an Event of Default (EOD)."

An "Event of Default" is a contractual clause that allows a creditor to demand repayment before maturity if certain conditions, such as a credit rating downgrade, are met.

In the case of JoongAng Ilbo, credit rating agencies have issued a series of downgrades following JTBC's recent declaration of default. Consequently, the company disclosed on the 16th that an Event of Default had occurred regarding four types of its corporate bonds.

In a statement released today, JoongAng Ilbo said, "As JoongAng Ilbo is currently pursuing a workout (corporate restructuring program) with its main creditor bank, we must maintain equity among all creditors." The company added, "Therefore, it is difficult to provide early repayment to a specific creditor on an individual basis."

The company further stated, "This is an inevitable measure to ensure the successful progress of the workout and to protect the interests of the entire creditor group," adding, "JoongAng Ilbo will continue to cooperate closely with the main creditor bank and the creditor group to faithfully implement the management normalization process."

Yesterday (June 17), JoongAng Ilbo also issued a statement regarding the Event of Default on its corporate bonds, noting, "We inform you that we cannot comply with these requests (for repayment before maturity) in order to maintain equity among creditors in accordance with relevant procedures."

It is reported that Hanyang Securities has an exposure of 84 billion won to JoongAng Group affiliates, including JoongAng Ilbo and JTBC.

In a press release issued the previous day, Hanyang Securities stated that "recovery is proceeding smoothly" and projected that "a cumulative total of 44.6 billion won will be recovered by the end of September, and 73.1 billion won by the end of the year."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.