Homeplus files appeal to revive court rehabilitation proceedings after store shutdowns

Homeplus on Monday filed an appeal against a Seoul court's decision to terminate its corporate rehabilitation proceedings, seeking to revive its supervised restructuring process.

The financially troubled discount store chain submitted an immediate appeal to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on Monday afternoon, the company said in a press release.

On July 3, the court terminated Homeplus' rehabilitation proceedings after finding that the company had failed to secure at least 200 billion won ($134 million) required to continue the restructuring process.

The company temporarily closed its outlets starting July 13 due to a lack of operating capital and difficulties in maintaining store operations.

The appeal comes after Meritz Financial Group, Homeplus' largest creditor, on Thursday agreed to provide financing in exchange for a full payment guarantee from private equity firm MBK Partners, the retailer's sole owner.

MBK Partners acquired a 100 percent stake in Homeplus in 2015 from British retailer Tesco for 7.2 trillion won.

Yonhap