With Homeplus' rehabilitation procedure ending in a termination decision, Meritz Financial Group said it "very regrettable" and urged majority shareholder MBK Partners to play a responsible role.

In a statement on Thursday, Meritz Financial Group said it had hoped Homeplus would return to normal through rehabilitation. It said it had done as much as possible as a creditor within the bounds allowed by law, including cooperation on a stay on collateral execution, early repayment of commercial claims and placing 100 billion won of conditional emergency operating funds in DIP financing into escrow.

It pointed out that Chairman Kim Byung-ju (김병주) has yet to provide a guarantee on the 100 billion won DIP funding provided by Meritz.

Meritz argued that it could not avoid criticism that the Homeplus crisis was "a miserable result" of management in which MBK focused only on recovering its investment over the past 10 years.

Meritz said Homeplus' operating environment and corporate value worsened even after rehabilitation began.

Meritz said that despite 15 months since the start of rehabilitation, the operating environment and corporate value had instead deteriorated further.

It added that over the remaining two weeks, MBK, as the majority shareholder and the party responsible for management, should not stop at recovering only investment returns and must now play its proper and responsible role to revive Homeplus. It said it should stop pressuring creditors to break the law.

Meritz said it would also cooperate in future procedures. It said it would actively cooperate to minimise damage to stakeholders including Homeplus workers, partner companies and small business owners.

Earlier, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court decided on Thursday to terminate Homeplus' rehabilitation procedure. The court was reported to have considered factors including Homeplus' failure to secure the minimum 200 billion won in operating funds needed to carry out its rehabilitation plan.

However, the termination decision does not immediately mean final liquidation. Homeplus can file an immediate appeal within two weeks, and if it arranges a financing plan during this period the court could still reconsider the termination decision.

As a result, financing talks between MBK and the creditor group during the remaining period are expected to be the final variable for Homeplus' rehabilitation.