Exclusive
E-Land Group Affiliate 'Kensington World' Set for Liquidation After 6 Years

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that Kensington World, an affiliate of E-Land Group, is undergoing liquidation procedures. It appears that the deterioration of its financial structure due to persistent deficits has had an impact. Kensington World previously struggled with a poor financial state, at one point falling into a state of complete capital impairment. With few business operations, improving its performance had also proven difficult.

Kensington World operated the E-Land Group's bakery brand 'Frangerie' and was responsible for 'Kensington' brand marketing. Properties using the 'Kensington' brand, such as Kensington Hotel and Kensington Resort, are operated by the affiliate E-Land Park. E-Land Park holds a 100% stake in Kensington World.

Kensington World's predecessor was the travel agency 'Tour Mall.' E-Land Group entered the travel business by acquiring Tour Mall in 2012 but failed to generate significant profits. It is reported that by the mid-2010s, there was internal discussion within the group about liquidating Tour Mall.

Instead of closing Tour Mall, E-Land Group changed its name to Kensington World in 2019 and shifted its business focus to Kensington brand marketing. During the Tour Mall days in 2018 and 2019, revenue was merely 300 million won and 200 million won, respectively. After becoming Kensington World, revenue gradually increased, reaching 8.8 billion won in 2022. However, the company remained unable to break out of the red, recording an operating loss of 1.4 billion won in 2022.

According to BizHankook's coverage, E-Land Group recently decided to liquidate the Kensington World entity. This is interpreted as part of E-Land Group's organizational restructuring. As Kensington World recorded annual deficits, it had to rely on its parent company, E-Land Park, for capital. Over the past few years, E-Land Park supported Kensington World several times through paid-in capital increases.

For this reason, E-Land Group had previously attempted to liquidate the Kensington World entity for management efficiency. E-Land Eats announced in 2022 that it would absorb and merge with Kensington World. At the time, E-Land Group stated that it was proceeding with the merger to improve financial structure and optimize management efficiency through a reorganization of the ownership structure. However, internal opinions suggested that Kensington World could continue to operate independently, and this opinion was accepted, leading to the cancellation of the merger.

Contrary to expectations, however, Kensington World was unable to recover from its deficits thereafter. Ultimately, the decision to dissolve the company was made at a recent general shareholders' meeting. Kensington World plans to appoint a liquidator to carry out the liquidation process. An E-Land official stated, "Frangerie will be handled by E-Land Eats, and Kensington brand marketing is being handled internally by E-Land Park," adding, "The purpose for Kensington World's existence disappeared, so it is undergoing liquidation procedures."