This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 2:29 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2026.
Homeplus Co., which won approval for its rehabilitation plan, is immediately starting the process to sell real estate. Of 37 stores nationwide that halted operations due to weak sales, it plans to sell 19 owned stores by the year after next to repay debt, and at the same time, under the leadership of major shareholder MBK Partners, build a profit-making structure at Homeplus Co. and pursue a sale of the company itself.
However, a stumbling block is that most of the 19 stores up for sale are in provincial areas, making it hard to guarantee smooth sales. If the store sales face difficulties and the remaining stores fail to operate normally, the rehabilitation plan could be terminated midway and Homeplus Co. could be put into bankruptcy proceedings by the rehabilitation court's authority.
According to the investment banking industry and legal circles on the 3rd, Homeplus Co., led by majority shareholder MBK Partners, began selling non-core stores that day. Of the 37 stores that halted operations in May due to customer attrition and weak sales, 19 owned stores were all put up for sale.
Specifically, they are the Gyeonggi Hanam store, Gyeongsan store, Gyeryong store, Goyang Terminal store, Gimje store, Namyangju Jinjaep store, Daegu Sangin store, Masan store, Seodaejeon store, Seomyeon store, Seobusan store, Anyang store, North Jeolla Iksan store, Junggye store, Jinhae store, Kintex store, Pocheon Songu store and Pohang store. The goal is to sell them by Feb. 2028 to raise about 1.4 trillion won.
Store sales are considered a core part of the Homeplus Co. rehabilitation plan that MBK Partners submitted to the court on the 1st and received approval for the following day. The idea is to use the sale proceeds to repay the 1.3 trillion won real estate trust secured bonds set by Meritz Financial Group, release the security, then take out additional loans to repay the remaining claims.
MBK Partners judges that the fundamental cause of Homeplus Co.'s management woes is excessive borrowing fund and believes that if it proceeds with operating efficiencies such as store sales and liability repayment to cut interest, a turnaround to profit is possible. It also carried out organizational restructuring and workforce redeployment, aiming to turn operating profit positive starting in 2029.
At the stakeholders' meeting for the review and resolution of the rehabilitation plan the day before, MBK Partners said, "If the streamlining of Homeplus Co. stores and normalization of operations proceed as planned, annual free cash flow (FCF) of 150 billion to 300 billion won will be generated, ensuring no setback to independent survival," adding, "We will also pursue an M&A of the company itself."
The problem is that the sale of closed stores, which is key to carrying out the rehabilitation plan, is expected to face a rough road. This is because most of the 19 stores up for sale are in provincial areas, making it hard to guarantee smooth sales. Of the 19 stores up for sale, only seven are located in the greater Seoul area, less than half of the total.
It is also a burden that rivals such as E-MART and Lotte Mart have already secured provincial footholds and that investment sentiment for commercial real estate has frozen. While there may be potential demand for development into mixed-use residential and commercial complexes, separate district-unit plans or activation plans are required, leading to limits on short-term sales.
There is also a high likelihood that the sale price will fall short of 1.4 trillion won. Buyers will inevitably be narrowed to real estate developers and PEFs rather than major retail groups, and if all 19 assets, including those in the greater Seoul area, are put on the market simultaneously by Feb. 2028, supply will flood the market, creating price pressure (effectively fire-sale pressure).
If stores are sold at bargain prices, the sale of the company itself also becomes uncertain. Because the proceeds are first applied to repay the Meritz Financial Group trust secured bonds, if they sell at bargain prices, the total will fall short of full repayment, which will delay the release of collateral and inevitably extend the interest burden. The turnaround to profit planned by MBK Partners also becomes uncertain.
In other words, the investment banking industry sees it as "the survival test begins now." Selling stores will inject short-term cash, but in the long run it inevitably brings the side effect of shrinking the operating base. A representative case is that the sales recovery, which briefly jumped right after reopening in Aug., has recently cooled. Not a few analyses say even the initial sales rebound after reopening was due to steep discounts.
MBK Partners also appears to recognize the possibility of delays in store sales. The rehabilitation plan specifies that if store sales are not completed within the first year (Feb. 2028), repayment can be split through the third year (Feb. 2030). However, in this case, the collateral loan and overall repayment schedule will also be pushed back.
An investment banking industry official said, "How quickly and at what high price the greater Seoul area stores up for sale are sold will be the key to the rehabilitation process and the subsequent sale of the company itself," adding, "If repayment cannot be made as planned, the court could decide on 'termination after approval' and declare bankruptcy."