Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
Homeplus' rehabilitation revived after court reverses termination
A Homeplus store in Seoul is seen behind a red traffic light, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Park Han-sol
Troubled retailer has to find new owner for survival
Homeplus won a reprieve on Tuesday after a court reversed its decision to terminate the retailer’s rehabilitation proceedings, concluding that a newly secured 200 billion won ($135 million) emergency loan had restored the viability of its turnaround plan.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court overturned its July 3 ruling and extended the deadline for creditors to vote on Homeplus’ rehabilitation plan until Sept. 4, giving the cash-starved retailer another chance to complete its court-led restructuring.
The decision came just a day after Homeplus appealed the earlier ruling, having secured the full debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan from its largest creditor, Meritz Financial Group.
The financing may have pulled the company back from the brink of liquidation, but it does little to resolve the deeper issues behind its decline.
Ultimately, Homeplus’ survival will depend on attracting a strategic buyer or fresh investment — an outcome industry observers say remains far from certain.
One immediate obstacle is the company’s mounting administrative claims, which take priority over other debts under Korea’s rehabilitation law. Those liabilities — including unpaid wages, severance payments and outstanding bills owed to suppliers of goods delivered after the company entered court-supervised restructuring — now total over 930 billion won.
The emergency loan covers only a fraction of those obligations, leaving the retailer likely to require additional liquidity even if the rehabilitation process moves forward.
For any prospective buyer, the more fundamental question is whether Homeplus can generate sustainable cash flow after an acquisition.
One of the chain’s biggest assets is its nationwide network of stores, which could potentially serve as fulfillment hubs for online orders and overnight delivery. However, the country’s Distribution Industry Development Act restricts the operating hours of large discount stores and requires mandatory monthly closures, limiting the company’s ability to fully capitalize on that footprint.
Those rules were introduced in 2012, when brick-and-mortar retailers still dominated the market. Since then, however, Korea’s retail landscape has been transformed by the rapid rise of e-commerce.
Hypermarkets’ share of total retail sales fell to 8.1 percent last year from 20.2 percent in 2014, while online retailers increased theirs to 58.6 percent from 41.2 percent over the same period. The deteriorating performance of rivals like Emart and Lotte Mart suggests the pressures facing the sector extend well beyond a single company.
Even with the rehabilitation process back on track, industry officials say the company’s long-term future will ultimately hinge on whether it can convince a new owner that the business is capable of generating sustainable returns.