South Korea is selling off large supermarket chain Homeplus, starting with mid-size Express

Homeplus, a large supermarket chain, and MBK Partners (hereinafter referred to as MBK), a private equity fund that holds 100% of the company's shares, have entered into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley, a major U.S. financial institution.
It has been revealed that Homeplus is in the process of selling its medium-sized supermarket chain, Homeplus Express, under a management company. The industry sees this sale as the first step in selling the entire Homeplus chain.
MBK, which acquired Homeplus from its British rival Tesco for 7.2 trillion won (approximately 819.59 billion yen) in 2015, will reach the 10th year of its investment maturity in 2025.
2024 is seen as the right time to invest. An industry source said, "It is realistically difficult to sell Homeplus for 7 trillion won (US$7.9 billion). Hyper, which already has high real estate value, is a very good investment option.
"The market is moving towards sales and liquidation. Among the assets held by Homeplus, Express has the highest cash generation capacity," he explained.
"Homeplus Express" has contributed greatly to improving Homeplus's business performance.
Sales for the month increased by 6%. An industry insider said, "First, we will sell the Express, which can make money, and close and sell stores with high real estate value, while at the same time, we will only sell stores that are doing well.
They will likely choose to sell it."