Timeff Was Merely Gu Young-bae's 'Money Source'... Funds Withdrawn for 'Qoo10 Internal' Loan

"Raising Timf for Qxpress Nasdaq Listing" Is 'Empty Talk'
Even If You Buy Items on Timf, They Don't Deliver via Qxpress
Gu Young-bae: "Timf Merger to Public Platform Conversion, Persuading Sellers from Now On"

Ku Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10, had planned to grow Tmon and Wemakeprice (Timep) and list their logistics arm, Qxpress, on Nasdaq, but this plan has effectively proven to be a 'false promise.' For this plan to materialize, Qxpress would need to be the 'exclusive logistics provider' for Timep, but most of the products sold on Timep are handled by other domestic courier companies, not Qxpress.

On the 2nd, Asia Economy analyzed Qxpress's audit report and found that last year, the company's revenue from Tmon and Wemakeprice totaled only 2.2 billion KRW (1.02 billion KRW and 1.18 billion KRW respectively). This accounts for just 2.6% of the company's total revenue of 81 billion KRW last year. The domestic share of Qxpress's total cargo volume through Timep and others was only 10%. The remaining 90% was overseas volume unrelated to Timep and others.

Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, is attending an emergency inquiry related to the 'Timon and Wemakeprice settlement and refund delay incident' held at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the 30th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

When consumers purchase products on Timep, delivery is carried out through courier companies contracted independently by the sellers. These include CJ Logistics, Hanjin Express, Lotte Global Logistics, and Logen Logistics, among others. Only a very small number of sellers use Qxpress. Therefore, an increase in Timep sales volume hardly translates into an increase in Qxpress's cargo volume. An e-commerce industry insider pointed out, "The scenario where an increase in shopping mall sales leads to increased revenue for logistics companies is only possible in companies like Coupang, which purchase almost all transaction volumes and deliver through their subsidiary, Coupang Logistics Service."

The e-commerce industry believes that CEO Ku's obsession with increasing Timep's sales is aimed at leveraging the liquidity of both companies for the Qoo10 Group. It is known that prosecutors and financial authorities have focused on this aspect following the search and seizure of CEO Ku and Timep on the 1st. The reason Qoo10 dismantled the financial organizations of the two companies immediately after acquiring Timep and transferred them to Qoo10 Technology appears to be to facilitate easy access to Timep's funds. In fact, CEO Ku borrowed 40 billion KRW from Timep in the form of loans to finance the acquisition of the U.S. e-commerce company Wish.

Additionally, it has been confirmed that the Qoo10 Group used the funds of the severely distressed Tmon and Wemakeprice in a circular borrowing manner among affiliated companies. According to Wemakeprice's audit report, as of the end of last year, the company had 25 billion KRW in borrowings from Tmon and loans totaling 15.11 billion KRW to Qoo10 headquarters and Qxpress. Given Timep's financial situation, financial authorities believe that a significant portion of this amount is likely settlement money originally meant to be paid to sellers.

Despite this situation, CEO Ku expressed his intention not to let go of Timep, the 'cash inflow source' of the Qoo10 Group. On the same day, he told Asia Economy, "I will persuade sellers from now on to merge Tmon and Wemakeprice to create a K-commerce public platform where sellers become major shareholders and normalize the business." CEO Ku's plan to persuade sellers refers to the Autonomous Restructuring Support program (ARS program). That afternoon, the court conducted hearings with the CEOs of Tmon and Wemakeprice, which had filed for corporate rehabilitation, and both companies had applied for the ARS program operated within the rehabilitation system.

However, the effectiveness of the repayment plan is in question. CEO Ku plans to write off 100% of Qoo10's shares in Tmon and Wemakeprice and place his 38% stake in Qoo10 into a blind trust within the merged entity. Additionally, there is a plan to allow sellers who have not received payments to convert part of their claims into convertible bonds (CBs). Analysts believe that sellers facing bankruptcy are unlikely to accept this plan, which requires considerable time until repayment. In response, CEO Ku said, "I plan to fill in the details more persuasively and explain them."

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