Homeplus Express Acquired by Harim... NS Home Shopping Finalizes Takeover

Business Transfer Agreement Signed with NS Shopping, an Affiliate of Harim Group
Acquirer to Succeed Part of Liabilities and Pay KRW 120.6 Billion in Cash
Partial Relief for Homeplus’s Financial Pressure
Key Challenges Remain on the Path to Normalization

Homeplus Express, the supermarket business division of Homeplus, which is currently undergoing corporate rehabilitation (court receivership) proceedings, will be sold separately and acquired by NS Shopping as its new owner.

A Homeplus Express store in downtown. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On May 7, Homeplus announced that it had signed a business transfer agreement to hand over the business rights of Homeplus Express to NS Shopping, which was selected as the preferred bidder. In the sale process for Express, NS Shopping, a home shopping affiliate of Harim Group, participated in the bidding last month and was selected as the preferred bidder.

The current financial status of Express shows total assets of approximately KRW 317 billion and net assets of about KRW 146 billion. It is known that, according to the business transfer agreement, NS Shopping will succeed part of Express’s liabilities and will pay Homeplus KRW 120.6 billion in cash. The acquirer is expected to pay the contract deposit, and the transaction is scheduled to be finalized with the settlement of the remaining balance next month.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court, which is in charge of Homeplus’s corporate rehabilitation, has decided to extend the deadline for approval of Homeplus’s rehabilitation plan by two months, from the original deadline of May 4 to July 3. This decision was made in consideration of the progress in the sale of the Express division and the signing of the business transfer agreement with the preferred bidder. The rehabilitation plan is a document submitted to the court detailing how the debtor intends to repay its debts. Based on this, the court determines whether it is more valuable for the company under court receivership to continue operating rather than be liquidated, and decides whether to grant approval accordingly.

Although the sale of Express has opened a way for Homeplus to partially ease its financial pressures, the company still faces pressing issues such as payments to suppliers and employee salaries, requiring additional funding. A Homeplus representative stated, "The sale of Express is a very significant step toward normalizing Homeplus." However, the company also added, "Since the sale proceeds will only be received in two months, we need to secure operating funds until the inflow of the sale proceeds and additional liquidity to implement the future rehabilitation plan," emphasizing, "We will focus on securing additional liquidity to lay the foundation for normalization."

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