Homeplus union accuses MBK Partners of seeking to liquidate the company

The Homeplus union criticized that "the majority shareholder, private equity firm MBK Partners, intends to euthanize Homeplus by relying on the hands of others (the courts and creditors)," and that employees of direct-operated branches, partner companies, consumers, and investors would suffer.

On the 13th, the Homeplus branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stated in its report titled "The speculative capital MBK's Homeplus profit-taking sale Season 3" published the previous day that "MBK intends to withdraw from management through its application for corporate rehabilitation (court receivership) and liquidate Homeplus."

The union claimed in the report that MBK had acquired or invested in domestic corporations such as Homeplus and ING Life (Orange Life), Nepa, and Doosan Machine Tools, as well as Chinese companies (HKBN, Apex Logistics) and Japanese companies (Tasaki, Accordia Golf) through its Blind Fund No. 3, and that they promised astronomical performance bonuses if only Homeplus and Nepa were liquidated after making trillions in profits through 'big sales' of Orange Life and Doosan Machine Tools.

The union noted that among Homeplus' financial liabilities of 2 trillion won, Meritz Financial Group holds collateral bonds worth 1.2 trillion won and 61 self-owned stores, and that redeemable convertible preferred stock (RCPS) was invested in by the National Pension Service (600 billion won) and Saemaul Geumgo (70 billion won). They pointed out that the RCPS had increased to 1.1 trillion won through dividends and that while the National Pension Service had recovered 300 billion won of the 600 billion won in dividends, 1 trillion won in liability remained.

The union asserted that "the main strategy of private equity firms is to maximize capital gains through restructuring, and the target of acquisition companies is merely to plunder cash or assets," and emphasized that "MBK, upon acquiring Homeplus, used little of its own money and made Homeplus take on debt and interest responsibilities by borrowing against its own assets."

They also stressed that "the reason for Homeplus' management crisis is not due to the saturation of the mart industry but rather the structural issues of Homeplus that hinder the generation of operating and net profits," adding that "the responsibility lies with MBK, which offloaded the interest on the costs borrowed during the acquisition onto Homeplus."

On that day, the Homeplus mart union signed a wage agreement containing a demand that "the labor-management committee must be consulted prior to the sale of stores."

The main points of the wage agreement this year include an average wage increase of 1.2% and the establishment of site experience allowances. Wages for positions from store senior staff to managers and from headquarters senior staff to full-time positions will increase by 1.2%, while other positions will be adjusted based on performance.

In addition, site experience allowances will be paid according to the length of service, up to a maximum of 25 years. The wage increase will be applied starting from March salaries, with retroactive payments for January and February of this year as well.

Chairperson An Soo-yong of the Homeplus mart union remarked that "the sudden application for corporate rehabilitation reflects a disregard for workers," stating, "We will do our best to prevent the sacrifice of employees during the rehabilitation process."

Meanwhile, Kim Kwang-il (Vice Chairman of MBK) and Jo Joo-yeon, co-CEOs of Homeplus, are set to hold a press conference at the company's headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 14th to explain the recent situation of Homeplus.