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The National Pension Service Seoul Northern Regional Headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. (Photo = Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Due to Homeplus's application for corporate rehabilitation, the National Pension Service (NPS), which faces the risk of losing nearly 1 trillion won of the national pension fund, has formed an internal task force (TF) to lead the response and is in the process of hiring a major law firm for legal consultation.
A source from the NPS Fund Management Headquarters stated on Monday, "Whenever a significant incident or issue related to the NPS arises, we have been forming a TF and discussing countermeasures," and added, "We are responding to the Homeplus issue in the same manner by forming a TF."
The NPS invested over 6 trillion won in Homeplus when MBK Partners acquired the company in 2015. Seo Won-ju, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of NPS, explained at the full committee meeting of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the 18th of this month in Yeouido, Seoul, "We invested a total of 6.121 trillion won, including 5.826 trillion won in redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) and 295 billion won in common stock."
Since then, the NPS has recovered 3.131 trillion won from the RCPS, including the principal of 942 billion won and profit of 2.189 trillion won. The interest rate agreed upon with MBK at the time of the contract was 9%.
Depending on the final decision on the losses, the NPS could lose close to 1 trillion won of the national pension funds. This is why the NPS has internally formed a TF to discuss specific countermeasures and is proceeding with the process of hiring a major law firm for legal advice.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
