Homeplus "Prioritize Payment of Small Business Trade Receivables Over Large Corporations"

Refuting Claims of Priority Payment to Large Corporate Partners
Reaffirming Stance to Prioritize Small Businesses and Micro-Enterprises
"Sequential Repayment; No Significant Cause for Concern"

Homeplus has drawn a line against some claims that it prioritizes repayment of commercial claims to large corporate partners, reaffirming its stance to prioritize payment to small businesses and micro-enterprises.

Citizens are walking in front of a Homeplus store in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 25th, Homeplus explained in a daily briefing material, "Some large corporate partners raised objections to the repayment of large corporate rehabilitation claims being made only after the payment of small business claims was completed," but added, "Based on the trust formed through long-term cooperation, we were able to seek understanding from large corporate partners through sincere communication."

Homeplus stated, "After announcing on the 14th that it would prioritize full repayment of commercial claims to micro-enterprises and small businesses, we communicated specific repayment schedules to partners and tenants and sought their understanding," adding, "Payments are being made according to the schedules provided so far."

It continued, "Since payments are being made sequentially, we fully understand the concerns of small business owners who have not yet received their payments," and added, "We plan to sequentially repay all commercial claims in full, prioritizing micro-enterprises and small businesses before large corporate partners' claims, so there is no need for significant concern."

Homeplus also announced that at the accounts payable securitization procedure consultation held at the rehabilitation court on the 20th, an agreement was reached for Shin Young Securities’ accounts payable securitization special purpose company (SPC) to participate in the rehabilitation process as an agent of the credit card company, and for Shin Young Securities to participate in the rehabilitation process as the SPC’s trustee manager.

Previously, Homeplus announced that to prevent damage to investors of asset-backed securities (ABSTB - asset-backed electronic short-term bonds) issued based on payments to partner companies made via purchase cards, it would treat the accounts payable securitization balance of 461.8 billion KRW as commercial claims and repay it in full.

Homeplus added, "We decided to treat accounts payable securitization-related claims as commercial claims and reflect the repayment plan in the rehabilitation plan," and said, "Once creditor consent and court approval for this rehabilitation plan are obtained, we will faithfully repay the accounts payable securitization-related claims according to the rehabilitation procedure."

Meanwhile, the amount Homeplus has repaid as commercial claims, including partner company delivery payments and tenant settlements, reached 488.6 billion KRW as of this morning, an increase of 2.9 billion KRW from 485.7 billion KRW as of yesterday morning.