[비즈한국] TMON, which had suspended operations for nearly a year following a massive settlement default crisis, has notified select partner companies of its scheduled relaunch. Oasis, the operator of the fresh food early morning delivery specialist 'Oasis Market,' jumped into the acquisition of TMON in April, and the acquisition was finalized recently after a court decided to force approval of the rehabilitation plan for Oasis and TMON. Oasis is dedicating efforts to normalization by injecting approximately 70 billion won into TMON. Attention is now focused on whether TMON, which has set out for a fresh start while still facing unresolved settlement issues, can regain market trust.
It has been confirmed that TMON has set July 17 as its target date for the relaunch. According to industry sources, while discussing collaboration with some partners, TMON indicated that a test period would begin on July 10, with the official launch date scheduled for the 17th. Plans are also in place to initiate full-scale marketing activities, including online advertising and promotions, starting from the 17th. However, Oasis responded, "We have not finalized the exact launch date, but we are preparing to open sometime within July."
TMON began preparations for a relaunch in early June, targeting mid-July (Related article: [Exclusive] TMON sends emails to partners regarding July relaunch... Oasis says, "Preparation process for acquisition"). TMON has been working to reduce concerns over settlement defaults by offering the lowest commissions in the industry and introducing a fast settlement system, such as next-day settlements.
At the meeting of interested parties for the deliberation and resolution of the rehabilitation plan held on June 20, the plan was rejected because it failed to obtain the required legal majority (43.48%) of consent from the creditor group of small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers. While this put the acquisition at risk of falling through, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court broke the deadlock by deciding on a forced approval of the rehabilitation plan on June 23.
The court cited several reasons for approving the plan despite the creditors' rejection, including: compliance with the principle of guaranteeing liquidation value; consent from more than half (59.47%) of the total voting rights of rehabilitation creditors; and the high probability of executing the rehabilitation plan given that the acquisition price has already been paid. Notably, the court also specified that TMON's continued business operations would help guarantee employment for its workers.
Oasis and TMON had been conducting system checks and recruiting partner companies in preparation for a relaunch even before the court's approval of the rehabilitation plan was finalized. It is reported that they have currently secured enough sellers and product categories to maintain normal operations. During the recruitment process, TMON primarily contacted companies that had previously been listed on the platform and offered the industry's lowest commission rates. To compensate for previous losses and restore trust, existing sellers will be offered lower commission rates than new sellers who have no prior listing history.
Oasis is accelerating TMON's normalization by injecting additional funds. On the 8th, Oasis announced it would invest 50 billion won through a paid-in capital increase to improve TMON's financial stability. These additional funds will be used to secure new logistics centers, overhaul aging systems, and ensure liquidity for next-day settlements. Oasis previously paid 18.1 billion won for the acquisition of TMON, including covering unpaid wages; with this capital increase, it has now invested a total of approximately 70 billion won into the company.
Leveraging its expertise in fresh food early morning delivery, Oasis is expected to introduce early morning delivery services to TMON. On June 27, TMON posted a teaser video hinting at early morning delivery. When recruiting partner companies, they also proposed direct purchase sales utilizing Oasis's logistics warehouses and simultaneous entry into the Oasis Market.
Although the relaunch is imminent, controversies surrounding compensation are unlikely to subside easily. This is because the repayment rate is only 0.76%, making actual recovery of damages virtually impossible. For example, if a party suffered a loss of 1 billion won, the amount they could be compensated is only 7.6 million won. Having received court approval for its rehabilitation plan, TMON has been notifying creditors—including sellers and consumers—of the amounts calculated based on the repayment rate from the 2nd to the 13th. According to the notice, consumers whose repayment amount is less than 10,000 won will be refunded in TMON Cash rather than cash.
A company official stated, "Although we will be revamping the website, it will not change significantly as we are retaining the existing TMON brand," adding, "The internal systems are being stabilized by Geerisoft, the parent company of Oasis 051160." Furthermore, the official noted, "Because we have to move forward together with our partners, we set aside profit concerns to persuade them, and as we are already operating Oasis Market, we will do our absolute best within our capacity."