"Digitalization of Assets" ... Shinsegae Considers Selling Emart Seongsu-dong Headquarters Building

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Shinsegae Group is considering selling the Emart headquarters building in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. It is analyzed that the group is accelerating asset securitization as 3.44 trillion won in funds is required due to the recent acquisition of eBay Korea.

An Emart official said on the 6th, "We have been securitizing assets for several years to use real estate assets efficiently," adding, "A sale and leaseback of the Seongsu-dong headquarters is also one of the options under review."

Emart has actively utilized sale and leaseback, selling buildings and then leasing them long-term to securitize assets. In addition, following the sale of the Hanam branch site, Pyeongtaek Sosabeol site, and Emart Bupyeong branch in 2017, it sold the Magok-dong site in Gangseo-gu, Seoul last year, and this year sold land in Gayang-dong, Gangseo-gu, raising about 1 trillion won in funds for new businesses.

At the group level, right after confirming the acquisition of eBay Korea on the 24th of last month, it stated, "To proactively and actively respond to the rapidly changing management environment triggered by digital new technologies and to create a new paradigm for future distribution, we have been strategically reallocating real estate-centered assets and securing investment funds for several years, while simultaneously pursuing 'digitalization of assets.'"

The market expects Emart to raise up to 1 trillion won through the sale of the headquarters building, which is about 99,000㎡ in size.

It is also anticipated that Emart's fund procurement will become urgent and the pace of asset securitization will accelerate due to the acquisition decision of eBay Korea last month. Although Emart has sufficiently secured acquisition funds through the sale of the Gayang branch and collateralization of Bucheon Starfield City, additional investment is inevitable to maximize synergy by combining online and offline in the future.

An Emart official said, "We will continue to promote store securitization for the time being to strategically reallocate real estate-centered assets," adding, "However, we are not yet at the stage of selecting an advisory firm for the sale of the Seongsu-dong headquarters."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.