Korea Pizza Hut's liquidation-type rehabilitation plan has been approved by the court. In January, the Supreme Court ordered Korea Pizza Hut to return 21.5 billion won in differential franchise fees to franchise owners, but the actual repayment amount turned out to be 6.4 billion won.
The 12th bankruptcy division of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court (Presiding Judge Choi Du-ho) said on the 16th that it approved Korea Pizza Hut's rehabilitation plan.
At a stakeholders' meeting held that morning, the rehabilitation plan submitted by Korea Pizza Hut's administrator was passed, and the court also found that it met the requirements set forth in the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act.
Earlier, in January, the Supreme Court ruled that Korea Pizza Hut headquarters must return 21.5 billion won in differential franchise fees collected from franchise owners. The reason was that it had received differential franchise fees not specified in the franchise agreement.
Subsequently, as additional rehabilitation claims were confirmed during the rehabilitation process, the amount of claims related to the differential franchise fees increased to 49.53775 billion won. However, under the court-approved rehabilitation plan, the actual repayment amount was set at 6.44972 billion won.
Earlier, in Dec. 2024, Korea Pizza Hut filed for corporate rehabilitation with the court, citing difficulty surviving on its own. It then pursued a merger and acquisition through a business transfer and, in May this year, completed the transfer of business-related assets and business rights to PH Korea, which is backed by domestic private equity firms "Wintergold" and "K Clavis Investment."
Korea Pizza Hut prepared a rehabilitation plan to repay rehabilitation claims with 11 billion won from the sale proceeds, and it was approved that day. Under the approved rehabilitation plan, once repayment of the rehabilitation claims, including claims for the return of differential franchise fees, is completed, the existing Korea Pizza Hut corporation will proceed with liquidation.
The Pizza Hut brand business will be continued by PH Korea, which acquired the business rights.