Union members of Korea Zinc and Home Plus hold a joint press conference in Seoul on Tuesday to criticize MBK Partners’ management of Home Plus and its takeover bid for Korea Zinc. Photo by Tae-gyu Kim/UPI
SEOUL, June 30 (UPI) — The labor unions of Home Plus and Korea Zinc on Tuesday blasted MBK Partners, one of Asia’s leading private equity funds, over its troubled ownership of the former and the attempt to take over the latter.
“Although we are workers from different workplaces, we are all suffering in the face of the same capital greed. Korea Zinc and Home Plus are no different,” Home Plus union leader Ahn Soo-yong told a joint press conference in Seoul.
“Home Plus has now entered rehabilitation proceedings and stands on the brink of liquidation. But throughout this entire process, MBK, which should be held accountable, is evading responsibility,” she added.
MBK Partners acquired Home Plus from Tesco in a $5 billion deal in 2015. However, the discount chain entered a court-led rehabilitation program in early 2025 after years of mounting losses. MBK tried to sell Home Plus for more than a year with little success.
Against this backdrop, Home Plus has steadily reduced its store network in recent years. The retailer operated more than 140 hypermarkets across the country at its peak in the mid-2010s, but now has just 67 remaining.
“The hardship facing Home Plus is by no means a problem unique to Home Plus,” Korea Zinc union head Lee Eun-seon said.
“If MBK succeeds in taking control of Korea Zinc, the job insecurity and workplace destruction now being experienced by Home Plus workers will inevitably become the grim reality for Korea Zinc employees as well,” he said.
Korea Zinc has been locked in a prolonged control battle with MBK, which teamed up with zinc manufacturer Young Poong early last year to pursue a takeover bid. The two sides clashed at shareholders’ meetings in 2025 and 2026 in a series of heated proxy battles.
The share price of Korea Zinc fell 4% on the Seoul bourse on Tuesday, while the broad KOSPI rose 0.97%. Neither MBK nor Home Plus is publicly listed.