Interpark Commerce seeks debt restructuring following TMON, WeMakePrice

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) — Interpark Commerce filed for a debt restructuring program with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on Friday, following in the footsteps of two sister e-commerce giants amid a liquidity crisis.

The company’s request for an autonomous restructuring support (ARS) program came 18 days after TMON and WeMakePrice filed for the same program to negotiate with creditors for rescheduling overdue payments.

With Friday’s decision, all three Korean e-commerce companies under Qoo10 are now subject to the court’s decision on whether to place them under court-led debt restructuring.

TMON and WeMakePrice were allowed to initiate the ARS program on Aug. 2.

Interpark Commerce has been experiencing a severe liquidity crunch as customers fled the platform in panic after TMON and WeMakePrice defaulted on 1 trillion won (US$737 million) in vendor payments last month.

“We are making our utmost efforts to minimize damage to our vendors and customers while discussing strategic investment and the potential sale of the company with prospective investors,” the company said.

“We need more time to produce concrete outcomes,” it added, “We are seeking to make payments fairly and to consult with vendors autonomously through the ARS.”

As of Friday, Interpark Commerce has either failed to settle or still needs to settle approximately 55 billion won in sales proceeds, with an estimated 50,000 creditors, including sellers.

The company’s monthly transaction volume is approximately one-sixth of TMON’s and one-fourth of WeMakePrice’s.

From March to December last year, the company recorded sales of 34.2 billion won with an operating loss of 15.7 billion won.