Homeplus: "Public-interest creditors’ consent rate at 64.4%; final figure expected to be higher"

[Financial News] As a meeting of interested parties was held to vote on Homeplus’s rehabilitation plan, the consent rate rose sharply as government agencies also joined a series of installment repayments of public-interest claims.
Homeplus said on the 2nd that the public-interest creditors’ consent rate for the rehabilitation plan stood at 64.4% as of the previous day. The consent rate was 66.2% among creditors owed payment for goods and 88% among employees and executives. Compared with the 59% consent rate among public-interest creditors on the 31st of last month, this marked an increase of more than 5 percentage points in just one day.
Homeplus forecast that the final consent rate would be higher, considering the possibility that additional consents could be obtained before the meeting of interested parties began that day.
A Homeplus official said, "Although it has been confirmed that consent will not result in discrimination or harm, some public-interest creditors are still delaying their consent out of concern about what might happen. If we fail to secure sufficient consent for approval by today, the damage could inadvertently become greater, so we once again ask public-interest creditors for their consent."
Seoul Bankruptcy Court will hold a meeting of interested parties to vote on Homeplus’s rehabilitation plan from 3 p.m. that day. Rehabilitation secured creditors, rehabilitation creditors and shareholders will vote in separate groups on whether to approve the rehabilitation plan. The plan must receive at least 75% approval from the rehabilitation secured creditors’ group, at least 66.7% from the rehabilitation creditors’ group and at least 50% from the shareholders’ group to pass.
The court will decide whether to approve the rehabilitation plan based on the results of the meeting of interested parties and other factors. Public-interest creditors do not exercise voting rights at the meeting, but their consent rate is used as a key indicator of the plan’s feasibility. The court was previously reported to have asked Homeplus to secure the consent of approximately 80% of public-interest creditors.

[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter