Homeplus Co. said on the 28th it will ask public-interest creditors to agree to partitioning repayment ahead of a stakeholders' meeting for the review and vote on its rehabilitation plan on the 2nd of next month.
According to Homeplus Co., as of on the 27th, 9,571 individual and institutional creditors had agreed to partitioning repayment of public-interest claims, with an overall approval rate of about 58.1%. Among product-supply creditors, 62.4% agreed, and among employees, 87.2% agreed.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court asked Homeplus Co. to obtain and submit public-interest creditors' consent to partitioning repayment ahead of the stakeholders' meeting. This is because, in determining whether the rehabilitation plan can actually be carried out, the plan for repaying public-interest claims and whether creditors agree to it serve as key evaluation factors.
Homeplus Co. says additional approvals are needed beyond the current rate. It noted that because the size of public-interest claims is large, failing to secure sufficient consent could weigh on having the feasibility of the rehabilitation plan recognized.
The company proposed to public-interest creditors to repay 100% of the claims over three years. However, some creditors are raising fairness concerns, saying the repayment terms are worse than those for trust collateral creditors.
On this, Homeplus Co. said, "Under the law, proceeds from the sale of real estate with collateral are used first to repay loans of trust collateral creditors, so there is no (other) way," while adding, "Compared with the remaining rehabilitation creditors who will be repaid over six to 10 years, public-interest claims are set to be repaid first."
Meanwhile, the Homeplus Co. commerce public-interest creditors' council, consisting of suppliers, issued a statement the previous day, pointing out fairness issues, including that about 25 billion won in Meritz affiliates' trust collateral claims would be repaid immediately.