ED Homeplus has won a reprieve: Now it must earn back trust
Rep. Min Byung-deok, chairman of the Democratic Party of Korea's Euljiro Committee, and members of the Mart Industry Labor Union hold a news conference at the National Assembly's Communications Center in Seoul, Thursday, one day after a court approved a rehabilitation plan prepared by Homeplus. (Yonhap)
Retailer faces significant challenges on path to rehabilitation
Homeplus has narrowly avoided collapse.
On Wednesday, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved the retailer’s rehabilitation plan, clearing the way for it to begin repaying its creditors under a restructuring agreement. The decision gives Homeplus a vital lifeline, but it should not be mistaken for a recovery.
It is, at most, the beginning of one.
The plan was given the green light after universal approval by secured rehabilitation creditors and shareholders, along with 75.9 percent of unsecured rehabilitation creditors. The court concluded that the statutory requirements for approval had been met. Crucially, more than two-thirds of the public-interest creditors also agreed to deferred repayment, removing a major obstacle to the plan’s implementation.
The numbers, however, conceal a painful reality for Homeplus’ suppliers.
The retailer owes roughly 503.2 billion won ($370 million) in unpaid merchandise bills to suppliers. Under the rehabilitation plan, only 0.5 percent of that amount will be repaid by February 2028, followed by 20.3 percent by February 2029 and the remaining 79.2 percent by February 2030. For suppliers already struggling with cash flow, waiting years to recover money for goods they have already delivered is an enormous burden.
The contrast with employee compensation is likely to fuel resentment. Homeplus plans to repay 69 percent of roughly 63.3 billion won in unpaid wages and severance payments by February 2027 and the remainder by the following year. Protecting workers’ livelihoods is plainly justified. But the sacrifice being demanded of suppliers — many of them smaller businesses with far less financial resilience — cannot simply be treated as an unavoidable footnote to restructuring.
Their decision to accept the repayment schedule should therefore be understood as an act of considerable forbearance, not a blank check.
Homeplus came close to losing even this chance. In July, the court ordered the rehabilitation proceedings terminated, citing insufficient operating funds. The process was revived only after majority shareholder MBK Partners arranged roughly 200 billion won in emergency debtor-in-possession financing from Meritz Financial Group. That should serve as a warning that Homeplus remains financially fragile.
The next challenge is not obtaining court approval — it is generating enough cash to make the plan credible.
Homeplus intends to sell 19 company-owned stores out of the 37 locations designated for closure by February 2028. The proceeds will first be used to repay secured trust-backed debt, after which the company plans to leverage remaining properties for additional borrowing. Further property-backed financing is planned in 2030 and 2037.
Such measures may provide breathing room, but asset sales are not a business strategy. A retailer cannot create a sustainable future simply by liquidating the assets that underpin its operations. The rehabilitation plan will succeed only if Homeplus can restore a profitable core business while meeting its repayment obligations.
There are grounds for cautious optimism. Since reopening on Aug. 13, Homeplus recorded 116.4 billion won in sales through the end of the month, a 57 percent increase from the comparable period before the suspension of operations. Visitor numbers rose 38 percent, while the number of visitors making purchases jumped 255 percent. These figures suggest that consumers have not abandoned the brand.
But goodwill generated by a reopening can evaporate quickly if shelves remain empty.
Homeplus is still operating under severe constraints because suppliers, wary of further losses, require cash up front rather than extending credit as they normally would. That creates a vicious cycle: Limited working capital restricts inventory, inadequate inventory drives customers away and weaker sales further undermine cash flow.
Breaking that cycle must be the company’s overriding priority.
That requires more than promises. Homeplus and MBK Partners must demonstrate that they accept responsibility for the failures that brought the company to this point. Suppliers and workers have already made substantial concessions to keep the business alive. The burden of rehabilitation cannot be shifted onto them while shareholders and management retain the full benefits if the turnaround succeeds.
The court’s approval has bought Homeplus time, but it has not restored trust.
The company now has an opportunity to rebuild that trust by paying suppliers on time, restoring normal business relationships, maintaining stable employment and turning the recent surge in customer demand into sustainable earnings.
Ultimately, the success of Homeplus’ rehabilitation will not be measured by court rulings or by ambitious projections for sales and profits. Instead, it will be measured by whether the company keeps its promises.
The court has given Homeplus a chance to survive. Now Homeplus must prove that it deserves to.