NS Home Shopping completes Homeplus Express acquisition payment

NS Home Shopping completed payment Monday for the acquisition of the Homeplus Express business unit, taking over its operating rights.

According to NS Home Shopping, a newly established subsidiary, Homeplus Express Co., will manage Homeplus Express operations.

NS Home Shopping plans to normalize store operations, stabilize product supply and restore customer service. Steps include upgrades to facilities and equipment, restoring product assortment, and improving staff training and service quality.

The company also plans to strengthen its fresh food offerings and enhance online services, creating a retail environment where customers can shop conveniently within their neighborhoods and receive deliveries at home. Under the vision of "fresher and closer to customers' daily lives," NS Home Shopping said it will restructure the business around Homeplus Express's nationwide store network and online platform.

Industry observers expect NS Home Shopping, which now controls a network of 286 stores nationwide, to leverage online-offline retail synergies to sharpen its competitiveness in the corporate supermarket, or SSM, market.

Since signing the acquisition agreement, NS Home Shopping has conducted on-site inspections of all stores and fulfilled payment guarantees to suppliers as part of preparations to restore normal operations as quickly as possible.

The company plans to apply its expertise in TV home shopping and mobile and online channel operations to boost product competitiveness and operational efficiency.

Homeplus Express, which has struggled with supply disruptions and customer attrition during its rehabilitation proceedings, is expected to stabilize quickly.

Homeplus Express operates 286 stores nationwide, including 66 franchise locations, making it one of the country's major SSM chains.

"We will focus on stabilizing product supply and restoring store competitiveness to make Homeplus Express the go-to neighborhood supermarket that customers want to return to," said Cho Hang-mok, chief executive of NS Home Shopping. "We will also work to build a new retail ecosystem where customers can find fresh, trustworthy products close to home, and where we grow together with our partners."

Meanwhile, Homeplus issued a statement Monday saying it continues to pursue self-rescue efforts to normalize operations, as evidenced by the completion of the business transfer agreement. The company called on Meritz to swiftly disburse 200 billion won ($130 million) in debtor-in-possession financing it has been requesting.