Homeplus, which is undergoing rehabilitation procedures, stated that its notification of contract termination to 17 stores is an "inevitable choice due to the landlords' refusal to negotiate."
Homeplus stated on the 16th, "In some cases, landlords have refused to negotiate rent and did not agree to an extension of the response deadline," adding, "We had to notify of the contract termination to prevent the expiration of the right to terminate the contract."
Previously, since starting rehabilitation procedures on 4th March, Homeplus has been negotiating adjustments to rental fees with landlords of a total of 61 rental stores based on Article 119 of the "Debtors Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act" to normalize excessive rents.
Article 119 of the Debtors Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act states that in rehabilitation procedures, the administrator has the option to terminate or enforce the lease contract, and the counterpart can request a response regarding the performance of the contract from the administrator. Homeplus set the deadline for a response regarding the performance of the contract to May 15. If there is no response by the deadline, it will be deemed a waiver of the right to terminate.
Homeplus noted that it intends to continue negotiations with landlords until the very end, even after the notification of contract termination.
Homeplus stated, "Even if we ultimately cannot reach an agreement, we plan to guarantee employment for all employees at the affected stores. There will be no artificial restructuring due to this."
The plan is to actively support employees at the affected stores by applying the "Employment Stability Support System" to reassign them to nearby stores and provide a small incentive to help them quickly adapt to their new workplace.