Court set to hold arrest warrant hearing for chairman of MBK Partners over bond sale

▲ Kim Byung-ju, chairman of private equity firm MBK Partners, attends an audit by the National Assembly's National Policy Committee, in this file photo taken Oct. 14, 2025. (Yonhap)

MBK Partners-prosecution

Court set to hold arrest warrant hearing for chairman of MBK Partners over bond sale

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court is set to hold a hearing Tuesday to decide whether to issue arrest warrants for the chairman of private equity firm MBK Partners, Kim Byung-ju, and three other senior executives over sales of short-term bonds of troubled retailer Homeplus Co.

The Seoul Central District Court will hold the hearing at 10 a.m. after prosecutors sought arrest warrants for Kim and other senior executives, including a co-chief executive of Homeplus, on charges of fraud and violation of the Capital Markets Act.

A decision on their potential arrest is expected to come out as early as later this day.

MBK Partners acquired a 100 percent stake in Homeplus in 2015 from British retailer Tesco Plc for 7.2 trillion won (US$4.9 billion). The retailer, however, became financially strapped due to a slump in the discount store industry and eventually entered court-led rehabilitation proceedings in March last year.

MBK Partners has been accused of allegedly selling a large-scale short-term bond of Homeplus around the time of the credit downgrade for the retailer.

On Feb. 28 last year, Korea Ratings downgraded its credit rating of Homeplus to "A3 minus" from "A3." Four days later, Homeplus asked a court to grant rehabilitation proceedings.

(END)

(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved