Homeplus Chief Executive Mandates Immediate Sale Following Supplier Liquidity Collapse

How the transaction developed

MBK Partners acquired Homeplus from Tesco plc in 2015. The private equity sponsor managed the asset through a period of shifting consumer habits in South Korea, as shoppers moved toward e-commerce platforms and convenience store networks. Revenue pressures mounted, leading Homeplus to carve out its supermarket division. Homeplus sold Homeplus Express to Harim Group’s NS Home Shopping for ₩120.6 billion in May 2026, according to The Korea Herald on September 16, 2026.

The operational crisis accelerated in mid-2026 as supplier confidence deteriorated. Meritz Financial Group provided a ₩200 billion debtor-in-possession loan in July 2026 to stabilize operations, according to Reuters on July 15, 2026. MBK Partners and founder Michael Byungju Kim provided personal and joint guarantees to back the facility. Suppliers refused to return to standardized credit terms despite the liquidity injection.

Seoul Bankruptcy Court formally approved a rehabilitation plan on September 2, 2026, according to The Korea Herald. MBK Partners subsequently executed a zero-compensation cancellation of its 2.4 million common shares on September 14, 2026, relinquishing its ownership position entirely, according to Businesskorea on October 7, 2026. The cancellation transferred control of the sale process to the court administrators.

Samil PwC distributed teaser documents to approximately 50 strategic and financial investors in late September 2026, according to Financial News on September 25, 2026. No formal acquisition bids or firm expressions of interest have materialized as of October 11, 2026. Conglomerates including CJ Group formally denied interest in acquiring the asset in August 2025, according to NEWSTOP on August 26, 2025.

Jo Ju-yeon addressed the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee during the Korea Fair Trade Commission audit on October 12, 2026. He stated that suppliers insist on advance payments. He confirmed the expedited whole-company sale or an eventual breakup liquidation is the only path forward for Homeplus, according to KED Global on October 12, 2026.

Valuation and comparables

Samil PwC calculated the liquidation value of Homeplus at approximately ₩3.7 trillion. The advisory firm appraised the going-concern value at roughly ₩2.5 trillion. This assessment established a ₩1.2 trillion valuation shortfall that precipitated the court-led sale process, according to The Korea Times on June 12, 2025. MBK Partners disputed the findings produced by Samil PwC, arguing that the going-concern value exceeds the liquidation value.

Samil PwC applied a separate valuation to the core hypermarket business, appraising the 67-store network at just over ₩2.0 trillion, according to The Korea Herald on September 16, 2026. Other investment banking reviews priced the viable store locations at approximately $1.5 billion, according to KED Global on September 16, 2026. Real estate assets comprising 19 shuttered store locations are targeted to yield ₩1.42 trillion by February 2028, according to The Korea Herald on September 16, 2026.

Transaction multiples, price-to-earnings ratios, and enterprise value-to-EBITDA multiples are not disclosed by the seller or the bankruptcy court. The base comparison for the asset is the 2015 leveraged buyout. MBK Partners purchased Homeplus for ₩7.2 trillion from Tesco plc. The 2026 divestiture of the Homeplus Express supermarket arm for ₩120.6 billion provides the most recent benchmark for retail assets divested from the broader corporate structure.

Financing and structure

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court structured the transaction as a pre-approved rehabilitation sale, according to The Korea Times on June 12, 2025. The mechanism requires an incoming buyer to inject fresh equity capital through newly issued common shares to assume operational control. The court uses this structure to bypass the debt constraints attached to the cancelled equity previously held by MBK Partners.

The ₩200 billion debtor-in-possession loan from Meritz Financial Group provides current operational funding. The court-approved rehabilitation plan schedules the amortization of supplier payables over a three-year period. The schedule requires Homeplus to repay 0.5 percent of supplier liabilities by February 2028, followed by 20.3 percent by February 2029, and the remaining 79.2 percent by February 2030, according to The Korea Times on September 3, 2026.

If the whole-company sale process fails to secure a buyer, Samil PwC will pivot the transaction to a store-by-store asset breakup, according to Financial News on October 11, 2026. The perimeter currently includes the corporate headquarters, 67 operating hypermarkets, and the 19 closed company-owned real estate properties.

Risks, conditions and key dates

• June 12, 2025: The Korea Times reports the proposed transaction is structured as a pre-approved rehabilitation sale.
• July 15, 2026: Meritz Financial Group executes a ₩200 billion debtor-in-possession emergency financing loan.
• September 2, 2026: Seoul Bankruptcy Court formally approves the rehabilitation plan.
• September 14, 2026: MBK Partners executes a zero-compensation cancellation of 2.4 million common shares.
• Late September 2026: Samil PwC distributes teaser letters to approximately 50 strategic and financial investors.
• Early October 2026: MBK Vice Chairman Kim Kwang-il and CEO Jo Ju-yeon tender resignations as court co-administrators.
• October 12, 2026: CEO Jo Ju-yeon testifies before the National Assembly regarding failed supplier normalization.
• Late October 2026: Expressions of interest and non-binding indications are due to Samil PwC.
• February 2028: First tranche of amortized supplier payables is due, comprising 0.5 percent of the total obligation.

Where reports disagree

Media publishers report diverging figures for the common-benefit priority liabilities attached to Homeplus. The Korea Herald reported these public-interest priority liabilities at roughly ₩930 billion on July 17, 2026. News1 reported the same liability class at ₩940 billion on July 16, 2026.

Publishers also diverge on the total value of overdue supplier payables. The Korea Times reported overdue supplier payables at ₩503.2 billion on September 3, 2026. News1 published a higher figure, citing overdue supplier payables at ₩794 billion on July 16, 2026.

The initial 2015 acquisition price of ₩7.2 trillion paid by MBK Partners to Tesco plc is reported with differing foreign exchange conversions by publishers. The Korea Times converted the figure to $4.9 billion on March 23, 2025. The Korea Herald reported the conversion as $5.1 billion on September 24, 2025. Bloomberg reported the historic purchase price as £4.0 billion in October 2026.

The valuation of the 2.4 million cancelled common shares previously held by MBK Partners is reported at ₩2.5 trillion by both Businesskorea on October 7, 2026, and The Korea Herald on October 9, 2026. Publishers convert this figure to a range between $1.86 billion and $1.9 billion.

The Financial Services Commission maintains pending regulatory sanction proceedings against MBK Partners, according to The Korea Herald on October 9, 2026. The specific regulatory outcomes remain unresolved.