Im Il-soon, CEO of Homeplus (pictured left), will retire. It has been 3 years and 3 months since MBK Partners, a global private equity fund, was appointed as Homeplus’s’saving pitcher’. It is interpreted that as the restructuring and on-off integration work, which has been led so far, are producing some results, they have decided to hand over’Baton’ for further development.
On the 7th, Homeplus announced that CEO Lim announced his intention to resign at the executive meeting this morning. The final consultation was also completed with MBK Partners, a shareholder. The retirement date is expected to be mid-month, the final approval date for the business strategy for fiscal 2021 (March 2021 to February 2022).
It is known that Lim has expressed his gratitude to MBK Partners since about three months ago. Homeplus said that CEO Lim said that it was only a “personal reason.” At the executive meeting, CEO Lim said, “I am sorry for the executives and employees and shareholders for leaving in an important and difficult time.” I asked.”
Until a successor representative is appointed, Homeplus will operate as a system in which business division heads jointly make decisions for the time being. MBK Partners is looking for a successor to CEO Lim. CEO Lim joined Homeplus in November 2015 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and was promoted to CEO in October 2017.
He is the first female CEO in the distribution industry, including the domestic hypermarket industry. In 2019, about 15,000 non-contract employees were converted to regular workers. It is also evaluated that it has transformed offline-oriented Homeplus into an’all-line future distribution company’ that is integrated with online. Last year, online sales exceeded 1 trillion won. Offline, the store successfully launched the’Homeplus Special’, an efficient model that combines the advantages of warehouse-type discount stores and hypermarkets. In particular, it is evaluated that it has succeeded in strategizing all offline stores as online logistics bases.
Representative Lim is being evaluated for achieving meaningful results in improving the constitution as a future distribution company. Business transparency was secured unlike before by raising corporate governance and ethical standards.
Some say that the fragile environment surrounding the hypermarket may have had an effect on appreciation. Representative Lim has appealed to the unprecedented regulatory environment in the world, such as the ban on delivery of new bags at hypermarkets.
Reporter Park Donghui [email protected]
Ⓒ Hankyung.com prohibits unauthorized reproduction and redistribution