Court approves Homeplus rehabilitation plan

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday approved a rehabilitation plan drawn up by hypermarket chain Homeplus.

The court immediately approved the plan after it passed a vote at a stakeholders meeting. The approval formally allows Homeplus to begin repaying its debts under the rehabilitation plan.

“The rehabilitation plan has been approved with 100 percent support from rehabilitation-secured creditors, 75.9 percent from rehabilitation creditors and 100 percent from shareholders,” the court said immediately after the vote. 

For the plan to pass, it needed approval from at least 75 percent of rehabilitation-secured creditors, 66.7 percent of rehabilitation creditors and 50 percent of shareholders.

“Considering that more than two-thirds of the creditors have agreed, we find that the requirements for approving the rehabilitation plan have been met,” the court said.

The rehabilitation proceedings will be terminated once the company begins making repayments as planned. Accordingly, the court plans to close the Homeplus case once the retailer’s repayments are underway.

If Homeplus fails to make repayments as stipulated in the plan, the court will discontinue the rehabilitation proceedings after approval. In that case, the court will declare the company bankrupt on its own authority.

BY JUNG SI-NAE [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]