NS Shopping (channel name NS Home Shopping), 100% owned by Harim Holdings, has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire Homeplus Express. The sale price is estimated to be around the 300 billion won range. Homeplus Co. plans to finalize detailed terms and move quickly to sign the definitive agreement.
◇ Homeplus Co. speeds up definitive contract
According to the retail industry on the 23rd, Homeplus Co. is hurrying to sign the definitive agreement. That is because the deadline set by the Seoul Bankruptcy Court to approve Homeplus Co.'s rehabilitation plan is May 4. The definitive agreement must be signed and the sale proceeds injected quickly to open the way for Homeplus Co. to normalize management. Homeplus Co. believes it can use the Express sale proceeds to put out urgent fires and, by concurrently restructuring stores and staffing, move toward normalizing operations. A Homeplus Co. official said, "In an optimistic scenario, a turnaround to operating profit in 2028 is also possible."
However, some say that if the sale price of Homeplus Express is around the 300 billion won range, it will not be enough to revive Homeplus Co. Homeplus Express was initially valued at over 1 trillion won, but it fell sharply as offline retail slumped. Mega Coffee (MGC Global), which participated in the preliminary bidding but dropped out of the main bid, is said to have estimated the sale price in the mid-to-high 200 billion won range.
A retail industry official said, "The most ideal structure is for the sale of Homeplus Express to be a hit and for Homeplus Co. to revive along with it, but at the currently estimated sale price, it may only cover losses. It needs to come out around 400 billion won." MBK Partners, the private equity fund that is Homeplus Co.'s largest shareholder, previously provided 100 billion won in debtor-in-possession (DIP) emergency operating funds, but it has been nearly exhausted handling back wages and unpaid bills.
◇ Will the second-generation Harim business "Odd Grocer" gain wings?
Harim Group, which seeks to acquire Homeplus Express, has consistently been cited as a prospective buyer. While several retailers such as Coupang, GS Retail, and BGF Retail were mentioned as candidates, Homeplus Express has in fact been classified as an asset well-suited for a food company's retail expansion. That is because the more than 300 Homeplus Express stores could serve as dedicated outlets for Harim's fresh foods and home meal replacement (HMR) products.
There is also an advantage in that NS Home Shopping, which is centered on broadcasting, could leverage an offline channel to serve as a bridge to mobile and online. After news broke of the plan to acquire Homeplus Express, NS Home Shopping said, "We believe our 25 years of experience handling fresh produce and foods can contribute to the operational stability and sustainable growth of the SSM business."
There was also a projection that "Odd Grocer," fronted by Kim Hyun-young, the second daughter of Harim Chairman Kim Hong-guk, will gain wings. Vice Administrator Kim took the lead in new business just one year after joining Harim Holdings by overseeing Odd Grocer, a fresh food direct-delivery platform.
Odd Grocer is a fresh food direct-delivery platform that Harim Group rolled out in September last year. It is a C2C (Cut to Customer) service touting "same-day production and same-day shipping," and to that end Harim invested about 150 billion won to build FBH (Fulfillment By Harim), an online fulfillment system. A Harim official said, "We connect the production plant and logistics center with a conveyor belt, so slaughtering, packaging, and shipping are handled the same day." A retail industry official said, "By linking Odd Grocer with physical stores and adding Homeplus Express's quick commerce, it could secure a real growth engine."
Its cash assets are also ample. Last year, NS Shopping's cash and cash equivalents were 137.1 billion won, up 168% from the previous year. Accordingly, the current ratio rose from 136.9% in 2024 to 164.6%. This means it has about 1.6 times more assets available within a year than liabilities due within a year.
Harim Group sees meaning in NS Shopping resuming an offline retail business it exited 10 years ago. NS Shopping entered the SSM (super supermarket) business in 2009 under the NS Mart brand and operated stores in the Seoul metropolitan area and some regions, but it wound down stores in 2014 and effectively exited the business in 2015. That was when competition with the SSMs of Lotte, E-MART, and Homeplus Co. intensified and the government imposed restrictions on new openings.
A retail industry official said, "I see strong potential for synergy with Harim," adding, "Because the price is not excessive, it looks like an M&A through which Harim can get what it wants."