The acquisition of TMON by the fresh food early morning delivery specialized company OA has failed.
The Seoul Rehabilitation Court said on the afternoon of the 20th that the rehabilitation plan was disapproved at a meeting of interested parties for the hearing and resolution of the rehabilitation plan.
At the meeting, 100% of secured creditors, 43.48% of commercial creditors, and 82.16% of general creditors agreed to the rehabilitation plan. More than 75% approval from the secured creditors and over 66.7% approval from the creditors was needed for the plan to pass.
It seems that the low repayment rate has held them back. Previously, TMON indicated in the rehabilitation plan that it would repay 0.7562% of the lending claims, small and medium-sized enterprises and consumer claims, general trade claims, and subrogation claims in cash. In the case of small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers, the total claim amount reaches 745.6 billion won; if the plan were approved, they would only receive 5.6 billion won.
TMON has tried to persuade creditors by saying that if the disapproval occurs, the repayment amount will effectively be zero, and if there are any contingent gains, it will implement additional repayments to the affected small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers. However, creditors did not trust the feasibility of such contingent gains.
The acquirer, OA, has shown a strong willingness to get the rehabilitation plan approved. According to the rehabilitation plan, OA was to invest 11.6 billion won to acquire TMON, and out of that, about 10.2 billion won would be used for debt repayment after excluding fees.
OA also stated that it would add 6.5 billion won to cover employees' back wages and severance pay, among other costs. It also promised to apply the lowest industry fees (3-5%) to affected vendors upon resuming operations and implement a system to settle sales proceeds the next day.
As a result of the disapproval of this rehabilitation plan, OA's plans to transform into a comprehensive e-commerce platform have been disrupted. The number of active members of TMON is between 4 million and 5 million, which is more than double the number of OA's members.
However, if the court decides on compulsory approval, OA's acquisition of TMON becomes possible. The TMON management official expressed in the meeting that day a request for a decision on approval that follows the method of establishing protection provisions. Accordingly, the court is scheduled to decide on whether to approve the rehabilitation plan by the 23rd.