The first representative questioning of the Korean food franchise "Nolboo," which applied for corporations rehabilitation proceedings, has concluded.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court's Rehabilitation Division 15 (Presiding Judge Kim Yun-seon) held the first representative questioning session for Nolboo at 4:30 p.m. on the 11th. Representative Kim and attorneys attended, and the questioning lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
After finishing the representative questioning, Chief Executive Kim Yong-wi told reporters, "We are doing our best to save the company." On the background of the business difficulties, Kim said, "The dining-out market is in a tough situation," and explained, "The economy is weak, but labor costs and food ingredient prices—and labor costs—have risen, pushing up the franchise closure rate."
According to Kim, the court plans to hold a second representative questioning session soon. Representative Kim and Nolboo's legal counsel are also expected to attend the second session. After the representative questioning, the bench will decide whether to open Nolboo's rehabilitation proceedings. The deadline for the decision is within one month from the date of the application to commence the rehabilitation proceedings.
Earlier, on the 31st of last month, Nolboo applied to the court to commence corporations rehabilitation proceedings. On the 4th, the court also issued a comprehensive stay order for Nolboo. A comprehensive stay order is a measure that prevents the company from disposing of assets or repaying debt without the court's permission until a decision is made on whether to commence rehabilitation proceedings. Creditors' provisional seizures, preliminary injunctions, and compulsory executions are also restricted.
Nolboo is a dining corporations that former chief executive Kim Sun-jin started in 1987 as a small bossam shop and built up. It is regarded as a first-generation player in the domestic franchise industry. At one point, the number of franchise locations reached 1,000 and annual sales exceeded 120 billion won. In 2011, Morgan Stanley Private Equity acquired Nolboo for 111.4 billion won and then transferred management control in 2021 to NB Holdings, an investment purpose company.
According to the 2025 audit report, Nolboo's sales last year were 63.9 billion won, down about 16% from the previous year (76.1 billion won). Over the same period, operating losses swelled more than 14-fold, from 600 million won to 8.7 billion won. As of the end of last year, accumulated deficits reached 95.9 billion won, and the capital impairment ratio came to 82%.