Luxury platform BALAAN has been declared bankrupt by a court.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court announced on Feb. 24 that it would declare bankruptcy for BALAAN Co., Ltd. It comes 11 months after BALAAN applied for rehabilitation in March last year.
According to the court, claims must be filed with the 15th Division of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court by Apr. 3. The creditors' meeting and examination date is Apr. 16. At the creditors' meeting, whether BALAAN will continue operations and the designation of storage locations for high-priced goods will be discussed. In particular, the court is also expected to hear opinions on the bankruptcy decision.
Earlier, on Feb. 5, BALAAN held a stakeholders' meeting, but the rehabilitation plan was voted down with an approval rate of only 35%. Although the total repayment funds were increased from 2.2 billion won to 5.7 billion won by revising the rehabilitation plan, some creditors, including certain marketplace sellers, reportedly opposed it.
At the time, BALAAN said SILICON2, the largest creditor holding 55.5% of general rehabilitation claims, opposed the plan, and the situation was compounded by incomplete paperwork from some small creditors.
BALAAN is an online luxury platform founded in 2015. At one point, it held the No. 1 market share in the industry. In 2022, its corporate value reached 300 billion won. However, due to a liquidity crisis, including delays in settling sales proceeds, it ultimately entered corporate rehabilitation.