Kim Kwang-il, vice chairman of MBK Partners and co-representative of Homeplus, noted on 4th regarding Homeplus's application for corporate rehabilitation, "There is approximately 600 billion to 700 billion won in repayments due over the next three months, and there was no way to prevent bankruptcy other than corporate rehabilitation."
Vice Chairman Kim appeared at the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee emergency inquiry on Homeplus and MBK Partners on the morning of the 18th in Yeouido, Seoul, and in response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kang Myung-gu, "Why did you judge that rehabilitation was the only answer?" he said, "I apologize for causing concern."
Vice Chairman Kim continued, "After the passing of COVID-19, we lost 1 trillion won in supermarket sales," adding, "The 'A3-' rating is from commercial paper (CP) that is hardly traded in the market. To protect our business partners and employees, it was deemed appropriate to undergo rehabilitation first and negotiate separately with creditors."
Earlier, after Homeplus's short-term bond credit rating was downgraded from 'A3' to 'A3-' on the 28th of last month, it applied for corporate rehabilitation at the Seoul Rehabilitation Court on the 4th. There were criticisms in the market that, despite being able to issue short-term bonds even with the A3- rating, it applied for rehabilitation suddenly.
Meanwhile, in response to a question from lawmaker Kang regarding MBK's acquisition of Homeplus for 7.2 trillion won in 2015, Vice Chairman Kim explained, "The amount MBK Partners acquired it for was 6 trillion won."