Homeplus plans to sell 19 stores it is closing and use the proceeds to repay Meritz Securities, releasing the collateral Meritz holds on other stores the retailer owns. Homeplus would then pledge those freed stores to borrow about 600 billion won ($435 million) by 2030 to pay down its remaining debts.
The retailer disclosed this plan on the 20th, describing how it intends to proceed if the court approves its rehabilitation plan next month. Homeplus has submitted a second revised rehabilitation plan to the court, which will hold a meeting of interested parties on the 2nd of next month and decide by the 4th whether to approve it.
If the rehabilitation is approved, Homeplus plans to first sell the 19 stores it owns among the 37 slated for closure. It aims to complete the sales by February 2028. The proceeds from the 19 stores would first go toward repaying trust-secured claims currently held by Meritz Financial Group. Repaying them would release the collateral on the retailer's other owned stores, allowing it to borrow from financial institutions. Homeplus believes the proceeds from the 19 stores alone will be enough to repay the trust-secured claims in full.
Once the trust-secured claims are repaid and the collateral released, Homeplus would use 38 of the owned stores among the 67 that will keep operating normally as new collateral to secure loans. The retailer plans to draw its first secured loan in February 2030, raising about 600 billion won to repay remaining debt. Homeplus says the 38 owned stores it would pledge carry an appraised value of about 2.8 trillion won ($2.03 billion), leaving ample room to borrow 600 billion won.
By 2037, Homeplus plans to increase the secured borrowing against the same 38 stores to about 900 billion won ($653 million). It would use these funds to repay the 600 billion won raised in 2030 and clear any debt still outstanding at that point. Homeplus's total borrowing would therefore stand at about 900 billion won as of 2037.
This financing plan hinges on a return to normal operations. Homeplus expects its 67 stores to generate annual revenue of about 4.3 trillion won and operating profit of about 162.8 billion won in 2030, the year of the first secured loan. It estimates operating profit of about 218.2 billion won in 2037. On that basis, the company believes it can generate free cash flow of 150 billion to 300 billion won a year, leaving the 600 billion won borrowed in 2030 with little strain on operations.
Still, the roadmap assumes the rehabilitation plan is approved and that earnings recover to the levels Homeplus has projected. At the meeting of interested parties on the 2nd, creditors and secured claimholders will review and vote on the plan. If creditors do not approve it at the meeting, the plan will be scrapped and Homeplus's rehabilitation proceedings will be terminated.
