[Invest&Law] Court Provides On-Site Support for Creditors to Report Claims Against TMON and WEMAKEPRICE

Opening of On-site Submission Office for Bond Reporting is First
Timon, Wemakeprice Employees and Court Staff Present to Provide Support

On the morning of August 30, victims of the delayed settlement incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE (Timap) held a black umbrella protest in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, urging the arrest and investigation of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE executives and the establishment of measures to compensate the victims.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

A submission office for creditor claims of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE, which caused large-scale settlement and refund delays, has been established at the Seoul Bankruptcy Court. Staff from both companies and court employees are stationed here to assist creditors with accurate claim submissions. This is the first time a separate submission office and support measures have been set up to facilitate smooth creditor claims, given that the number of creditors reaches approximately 49,000.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court (Chief Judge An Byung-wook), TMON, and WEMAKEPRICE will accept creditor claims from the 11th to the 24th of this month at the General Civil Affairs Office on the first floor of Annex 3 of the Seoul Court Complex.

Previously, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court’s Rehabilitation Division 2 (Presiding Judge An Byung-wook, Chief Judge; Presiding Judge Yang Min-ho) in charge of the corporate rehabilitation cases of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE decided on September 10 to commence rehabilitation procedures for both companies.

The court received creditor lists from both companies by the 10th. TMON submitted a list of 20,140 commercial creditors with a total claim amount of 870.8 billion KRW, while WEMAKEPRICE submitted 28,279 creditors with a total claim amount of 347.9 billion KRW. The lists were posted on the companies’ websites. Creditors must review the lists to verify the amounts they are owed and, if their claims are missing or the amounts are incorrect, they must submit separate claims with the accurate amounts. Claims can be submitted in person, by mail, or electronically; for this case, a separate in-person submission office has been established.

The submission office, located on the first floor of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, is staffed by employees of TMON, WEMAKEPRICE, the law firm Onsaemiro representing both companies, and court personnel. Creditors who fail to submit claims within the designated period will not be able to exercise voting rights at the creditors’ meeting as interested parties. They will also be excluded from the rehabilitation plan and lose their rights once the plan is approved.

TMON and WEMAKEPRICE filed for corporate rehabilitation at the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on July 29. After conducting individual interrogations of the companies’ representatives, the court accepted their request to proceed with the ARS (Automated Response System) program. Accordingly, the decision on whether to commence rehabilitation procedures was deferred for one month until September 2. However, despite two creditors’ committee meetings, the companies and creditors failed to reach an agreement, and on August 30, the court discontinued the ARS program extension and decided to commence rehabilitation procedures last month.

After the creditor verification process concludes, the court will conduct a creditor investigation procedure by October 14 to determine the exact claim amounts. Additionally, through Han Young Accounting Corporation, appointed as the investigation committee, the ongoing enterprise value and liquidation value of both companies will be evaluated, and an investigation report is expected by November 20.

Han Su-hyun, Legal Times Reporter