Homeplus Begins Full-Scale Search for New Owner...Teaser Letters Could Be Sent This Week

[Financial News] Homeplus is moving ahead with its merger and acquisition (M&A) process. As early as this week or next, it plans to send potential buyers brief investment-information documents, known as teaser letters, to gauge their interest in acquiring the company.
According to industry sources on the 16th, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, Homeplus’s sale adviser, is expected to begin sending teaser letters to potential buyers soon. The sale will proceed through separate transactions for the operating hypermarket business and the real estate of stores that have been closed.
Homeplus restructured its business around 67 core stores after closing 37 of its 104 stores with low profitability. Under the rehabilitation plan, the mart business at the 67 operating stores will be sold through a business transfer, while the real estate of 19 closed stores owned by Homeplus will be sold separately. If the sale of the mart business is completed, repayment to creditors is expected to take place earlier than outlined in the original plan.
Homeplus said the teaser-letter distribution marks the full-scale launch of the sale process announced in its existing rehabilitation plan, targeting potential buyers. Teaser letters are typically sent through two parallel approaches: “tapping,” which involves first gauging the interest of companies deemed potential buyers, and contacting companies that have previously expressed interest in the acquisition.
A Homeplus official said, “The teaser is scheduled to be sent this week or next week,” adding, “We will move forward with the sale in accordance with what was stated in the rehabilitation plan.”

[email protected] Kim Hyun-ji Reporter