SEOUL, October 31 (AJP) - An artificial intelligence company has joined the bid to acquire Homeplus, the troubled South Korean retail chain now under court-led rehabilitation.
Homeplus said Friday that multiple bidders had submitted letters of intent by the deadline. While Homeplus did not reveal details of the participants, one bidder is reportedly Harex InfoTech, an AI solutions firm.
The AI firm reportedly plans to raise about $2 billion in the United States to finance the acquisition.
Under the current sale plan, all common shares held by majority shareholder MBK Partners would be canceled, except for preferred shares, and new shares issued to the successful bidder.
In 2015, MBK Partners, a private equity firm, acquired a 100 percent stake from British supermarket chain Tesco Plc for 7.2 trillion won (about $5.2 billion at the time). But a prolonged slump in the discount store industry, compounded by competition from online platforms, left the company financially distressed. It eventually entered court-led rehabilitation proceedings in March.
Samil PwC, the lead manager for the open bidding process, said it will review the letters of intent and financing plans before signing non-disclosure agreements with the qualified bidders. The due diligence will run from Nov. 3 to 21, with final bids due by Nov. 26.
The identity of the second bidder remains undisclosed. NongHyup, previously mentioned as a potential participant, did not submit a letter of intent.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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