Tesco looking to offload Homeplus

Tesco, the world’s No. 3 retailer, is considering selling off its South Korean operations under Homeplus to rein in its accounting crisis, local reports said Monday.

The reports said the firm would have European investment bank Credit Suisse review the spinoff plans for its Asian operations, including South Korea.

This is not the first rumor of a potential selloff of Homeplus, but the current claims are supported by Tesco’s new CEO Dave Lewis examining ways to raise funds following the discovery of a 250 million pound ($397 million) accounting shortfall.

“The chances of Tesco selling Homeplus are now higher than ever,” said Kim Tae-woong, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea. “The recent visit of Tesco’s top management to Korea adds to the speculation that Tesco is either planning to dispose the unit, or at least go through major restructuring.”

Homeplus is said to be worth around 7 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in assets.

Some industry watchers raised questions over how attractive the offer would be.

“Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Store are said to be possible candidates (to buy Homeplus), but there are limits as they are involved in other projects or have no experience in food and retail,” said Son Yoon-kyung, a Kiwoom Securities analyst.

A Homeplus spokesman dismissed the speculation, saying previous reports on a potential sell-off had seldom “yielded any fruit.”

Homeplus is Tesco’s largest international operation, running more than 500 stores nationwide under the Homeplus brand. Its annual sales account for about half of Tesco’s Asian operations, according to company figures.

Tesco also has a large presence in Malaysia and Thailand, where it operates more than 1,700 stores under Tesco Lotus and smaller stores.

Some news reports said that Tesco may be looking at other alternatives involving its Asian business outside of South Korea.

One would be to float cash by selling the Thailand business, which is said to have substantial potential for growth. The second would be to place its Asian assets under a holding company and list it on the stock market.

Tesco has suspended eight executives after the discovery of the accounting black hole and was warned of junk grading by ratings agency Moody’s.

HSBC analysts have said that it could cost up to 3 billion pounds to turn around Tesco in the U.K.

By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)