Seoul: At least two companies have submitted letters of intent (LOIs) to acquire financially troubled discount store chain Homeplus Co., which is currently under a court-led rehabilitation program, industry sources said Friday. Homeplus entered the program in March after two local credit rating agencies downgraded its corporate bonds from A3 to A3-, citing deteriorating financial health. The company is required to submit its rehabilitation plan to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court by Nov. 10.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the deadline is expected to be delayed again following three previous extensions since June. Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, the court-appointed accounting firm, has received LOIs from at least two companies, including artificial intelligence (AI) agent-based direct transaction platform company Harex InfoTech Inc., the sources said. In its LOI, Harex said it plans to raise 2.8 trillion won (US$2 billion) in the United States through its financial advisor, Anari Capital, to take over Homeplus.
The two companies are scheduled to conduct preliminary due diligence on Homeplus from Nov. 3-21 before submitting their acquisition bids in an auction slated for Nov. 26, according to Homeplus. "The court will review the bids and hear the opinions of Homeplus' creditors on potential buyers and their plans before deciding whether to approve the acquisition," a Homeplus spokesperson said. Any interested parties may still submit bids in the planned auction, he added.
Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers previously recommended holding the auction before the court approves the rehabilitation plan, noting that the company's liquidation value exceeds its going-concern value. The court accepted the recommendation. Private equity firm MBK Partners acquired a 100 percent stake in Homeplus in 2015 from British retailer Tesco Plc for 7.2 trillion won. Homeplus currently operates 123 outlets nationwide.