honestbee chairman Brian Koo looms large in startup's revamp bid

Singapore

AS HONESTBEE seeks court protection to restructure some US$209 million worth of debt, questions remain about whether its key backer and chairman Brian Koo holds all the cards, or if minority creditors will have more of a say in the outcome.

The grocery delivery startup had taken US$4 million in loans from two funds under Mr Koo's venture firm Formation Group this year that were secured by charges over all of honestbee's assets.

While the sum is small relative to honestbee's total liabilities, the loan makes the Formation Group funds honestbee's only secured creditors, with seniority over all of the startup's other financial and trade creditors.

Even among unsecured creditors, Mr Koo, a scion of the LG empire, appears dominant. The company is understood to owe S$185 million to A Honestbee, a vehicle in which Mr Koo's family business Yesco is a major shareholder; S$24.6 million to Mr Koo himself and S$34.9 million to F8 Asia Growth, also linked to Mr Koo. This adds up to about 88 per cent of honestbee's unsecured debt, und…