Homeplus, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation, is moving to an open competitive auction. The decision comes after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court and sale manager Samil PwC kept searching for potential buyers but judged they could no longer delay as the process dragged on.
According to the industry on the 2nd, Homeplus and sale lead manager Samil PwC posted a notice stating they will sell Homeplus through an open competitive bidding process. They will accept letters of intent and non-disclosure undertakings until the 31st, conduct preliminary due diligence from the 3rd to the 21st of next month, and receive bids until the 26th of next month.
Earlier, Homeplus filed for corporate rehabilitation (court receivership) in March this year, and after the rehabilitation court allowed a pre-approval merger and acquisition (M&A) in June, it began searching for a new owner. However, the sale timeline was delayed as leading potential buyers including Coupang, NongHyup, CJ, Emart, and Daiso dropped out after internal reviews.
Initially, the sell-side considered a "stalking-horse" approach, in which it would select a preferred bidder that signed a conditional acquisition agreement in advance and then hold an open auction. However, with major candidates not participating, it is believed to have scrapped that plan and shifted to a general competitive auction.
Homeplus's liquidation value was assessed at 3.6816 trillion won, and its going-concern value at 2.5059 trillion won. To acquire Homeplus, a bid must exceed the liquidation value.