The Seoul Bankruptcy Court has extended the voting deadline for Homeplus's rehabilitation plan by two months.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court's Fourth Division (Presiding Judge Kim Jun-young, Lead Judge Park So-young) announced on March 3 that it has extended the deadline for approving Homeplus's rehabilitation plan to May 4.
The original deadline for the rehabilitation plan approval was March 4—one year from the date rehabilitation proceedings commenced last year. However, Homeplus filed an extension request with the court the previous day. MBK Partners stated it would inject 100 billion won in DIP financing by March 11 and would waive its repayment claims on that amount if the plan is rejected. DIP financing is a method allowing companies in rehabilitation to raise operating and emergency funds while retaining existing management control.
Under Article 239, Paragraph 3 of the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act, courts may extend the rehabilitation plan approval period by up to six months when unavoidable circumstances exist. Legally, an extension until September 4 of this year remains possible.
The court determined that the initial 100 billion won from MBK Partners can address urgent debts. Given the waiver of repayment claims, an extended deadline would not significantly disadvantage creditors and other stakeholders. The court also considered the need to monitor progress on the sale of the Homeplus Express division. This week, the court plans to discuss forming a business normalization task force involving the debtor, shareholders, and creditor committees.
Homeplus previously submitted its rehabilitation plan on December 29 last year, after five deadline extensions. The plan is a "structural innovation" approach, under which the administrator would borrow 300 billion won through DIP financing and sell the supermarket business division to secure repayment and operating funds. The plan calls for pursuing M&A after court approval following structural reforms. The court granted retroactive approval for the plan on January 9 after soliciting opinions.