Court required 80% approval ahead of Wednesday's creditors' meeting
Homeplus said Tuesday that 59 percent of its public-interest creditors had agreed to installment repayment as of the end of August.
Among public-interest creditors, 64.4 percent of those owed unpaid goods payments had given their consent, while 87.9 percent of current and former employees owed wages and severance pay had agreed.
Public-interest claims, which carry priority repayment rights, have become a key variable ahead of a creditors' meeting scheduled for Wednesday. If public-interest creditors demand immediate repayment, Homeplus's rehabilitation would be jeopardized. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court had asked the company to secure consent from roughly 80 percent of public-interest creditors by Tuesday.
Homeplus said it would continue collecting consent forms before the creditors' meeting. "Given the scale of public-interest claims, more consent is needed to pass the feasibility assessment," the company said. "If sufficient consent is not obtained by Wednesday, the rehabilitation plan could be deemed infeasible on Sept. 4 and denied approval, triggering a shift to bankruptcy proceedings."
soho0902@heraldcorp.com
