A South Korean court on Wednesday rejected a request to issue an arrest warrant for Michael Byungju Kim, the chairman of private equity firm MBK Partners, over its sale of troubled supermarket chain Homeplus, local media outlets reported.
MBK Partners and a court spokesperson were not immediately available for comment.
Last week, South Korean prosecutors requested a warrant to arrest Kim and three other people on charges of fraud and breaches of the Capital Markets Act.
South Korean prosecutors have been investigating whether MBK Partners approved a Homeplus debt issue in 2025 despite prior knowledge of a credit downgrade, which potentially could have resulted in investor losses.
MBK is also suspected of engaging in accounting fraud by changing the repayment terms of redeemable convertible preferred shares in Homeplus valued at around 1.1 trillion won ($746.99 million) to hide the retailer’s financial difficulties, according to media reports, citing prosecutors.
The prosecution office said it could not comment on specific allegations.
Last week, MBK said it “categorically rejects all allegations underlying this warrant application.”
Founded in 2005 by Kim and other partners, MBK has been an Asia-based pioneer in the private equity business in the region.
MBK has more than $32 billion in capital and focuses mainly on North Asian markets, including the $6.1 billion acquisition of Homeplus by Tesco in 2015.
Kim, a Harvard graduate and former Fulbright Scholar, previously worked at Carlyle, Salomon Smith Barney and Goldman Sachs.
Reuters
