TMON, WeMakePrice enter court-led restructuring

TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin and Wemakeprice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun answer questions from reporters in front of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court in Seocho-gu on the 10th. [Photo by Kim Ho-young]

South Korean e-commerce giants TMON and WeMakePrice began court-led rehabilitation proceedings on Monday, following their failure to settle large-scale payment obligations.

The platforms plan to place them up for sale during the rehabilitation process to settle debts, including unpaid vendor payments, but skepticism remains over whether they can secure investors.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved the initiation of corporate rehabilitation for TMON and WeMakePrice. With this decision, court-appointed administrators will take over the management of the companies, replacing the current leadership.

The court appointed Cho In-chul, who previously served as a third-party administrator during the Dongyang Group rehabilitation case, as the manager of TMON and WeMakePrice.

EY Korea, an accounting firm, will serve as the investigator, assessing the companies’ ongoing and liquidation value. Creditors, TMON and WeMakePrice must file claims by October 24, and the two companies are required to submit their rehabilitation plan by December 27.

Once the plans are submitted, they will undergo review and approval by creditors and secured claim holders before receiving final approval from the court.

The plans are expected to include details on repayment percentages and methods. However, if TMON and WeMakePrice are unable to operate as planned, creditors or the court itself could request the termination of the rehabilitation process.

TMON and WeMakePrice also intend to sell the companies to external investors before the rehabilitation plan is approved, using the proceeds to pay off its debts. They had already been seeking buyers under the Autonomous Restructuring Support (ARS) program, but potential investors indicated they wanted the court-led restructuring to proceed first to assess the company’s value objectively.

The success of this plan hinges on determining both the sale price and the repayment rates for creditors. Investors interested in acquiring TMON and WeMakePrice may seek to minimize the repayment rates to focus on operating capital, but creditors are likely to push for higher repayment rates. Finding a balance will require further negotiations.

Creditors are closely watching the situation, hoping for successful investment to recover their unpaid settlement amounts.

“While it is fortunate that corporate rehabilitation leaves a possibility of recovering funds, we are concerned that actual compensation might be difficult,” said Shin Jung-kwon, head of the TMON/WeMakePrice Victims Committee.

“The two firms mentioned needing 100 billion won each for TMON and WeMakePrice to normalize operations. It means they need to be sold for at least 200 billion won, including the settlement payments.”

Earlier, the court approved the ARS program to help the two companies with self-restructuring, but the plan fell through, resulting in the program’s termination on August 30.