Creditor Vote to Determine Homeplus’ Fate Draws Long Line to First Floor of Court

[Financial News] A meeting of interested parties to determine whether Homeplus will undergo rehabilitation was held on the 2nd. Creditors seeking to exercise their voting rights began gathering an hour before the meeting, and attendance checks continued even after it began. The courtroom and surrounding areas were bustling ahead of the vote that could determine Homeplus’ fate.
Rehabilitation Division 4 of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court, headed by Chief Judge Jung Joon-young, held a meeting of interested parties at 3 p.m. to review and vote on Homeplus’ rehabilitation plan.
Around 2 p.m., about an hour before the meeting began, creditors and other interested parties started gathering outside Courtroom 1 of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court. Those entitled to vote waited to enter, each holding a notice sent by the court. The line, which began on the second floor where the courtroom is located, stretched down the stairs to the first floor.
A computer station was also set up near the elevators for interested parties who had not yet checked whether they held voting rights. Rehabilitation creditors and rehabilitation secured creditors entered one by one after verifying their identities outside the courtroom. Court officials called out the names of representatives for creditors, including major commercial banks, to check whether they were present.
Victims who purchased Homeplus’ electronic short-term bonds also waited in line, holding A4-sized leaflets that read, “ABSTB (asset-backed short-term bond) investors are being treated unfairly.” A court security officer instructed them not to carry the leaflets.
Creditors who arrived late continued entering even after the scheduled start time of 3 p.m. In the courtroom, which has about 300 seats, roughly half the seats began filling from the front, while creditors also gradually took seats on the right. Homeplus CEO Jo Joo-yeon and co-CEO Kim Kwang-il sat in the front row, with their heads bowed as they reviewed documents. Because checking creditor attendance took time, the meeting recessed for more than 30 minutes before the main proceedings began.
A meeting of interested parties is a procedure in which a rehabilitation plan is reviewed and interested parties vote on whether to approve it. Under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act, approval requires the consent of creditors holding at least two-thirds of the total voting rights in the rehabilitation creditors’ group and at least three-quarters in the rehabilitation secured creditors’ group. In the shareholders’ group, approval requires the consent of at least half of the total voting rights.
If the rehabilitation plan is approved, the court hears the opinions of interested parties and considers the plan’s feasibility, among other factors, before deciding whether to grant final approval.
Ahead of the meeting, calls for changes to the rehabilitation plan continued. At a press conference held at the Seoul Bankruptcy Court at 2 p.m. that day, victims who purchased Homeplus’ electronic short-term bonds criticized the plan, saying, “Homeplus’ second amended rehabilitation plan does not at all guarantee meaningful recovery for electronic short-term bond victims or protection of their livelihoods.”
They pointed out that although the amended rehabilitation plan proposes nominal principal and 100% cash repayment of interest accrued before the commencement of proceedings on loan claims, including card receivables, actual repayment would be made in installments over an extended period from the fifth to the 10th year, while interest accruing after commencement would be waived.
The meeting is expected to continue until late at night. If the rehabilitation plan meets the court’s approval requirements, the court will comprehensively review its feasibility and other factors before deciding whether to approve it. Conversely, if the plan is not approved at the meeting of interested parties or fails to receive court approval, the possibility of termination of the rehabilitation proceedings and bankruptcy could increase.
 



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