On June 17 last year, Bandi & Lunis Yeouido Shin Young Securities branch in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, was not operating. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The corporate rehabilitation process of Seoul Bookstore, which operated the online and offline bookstore Bandi & Lunis but went bankrupt, has been completed.
According to the legal community on the 19th, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court Rehabilitation Division 14 (Chief Judge Kim Donggyu) held a creditors' meeting the day before and approved the rehabilitation plan for Seoul Bookstore.
Seoul Bookstore was established in 1988 and operated the bookstore called 'Bandi & Lunis' for 33 years, growing into the third largest large bookstore in Korea. However, as online usage increased and COVID-19 spread, it faced a crisis and sales plummeted.
Eventually, Seoul Bookstore faced final bankruptcy in June last year due to non-payment of promissory notes. Afterward, Seoul Bookstore received a decision to commence rehabilitation proceedings from the Seoul Rehabilitation Court. In addition, to raise new funds, with the court's approval, Samil Accounting Corporation was selected as the sales agent, and together with the applicant's representative law firm Daeryuk Aju, an M&A process was conducted before approval.
The final acquirer was selected as River Park through a public M&A bidding. River Park is an affiliate of Poonglim Industry, established in 2004, and its business purposes include internet information provision, e-commerce, and trading. The acquisition funds invested by River Park will first be used to pay the overdue salaries of employees and retirement benefits of retirees, and the remaining amount will be used for repayment of rehabilitation claims and other purposes.
The law firm Daeryuk Aju, representing Seoul Bookstore, stated, "With the approval of the rehabilitation plan containing the pre-approval M&A of Seoul Bookstore, the full-scale normalization process has begun."
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