This article appeared in Signal, a capital markets compass, at 3:42 p.m. on June 18, 2026.
As five JoongAng Group affiliates filed for court-led rehabilitation, the four major accounting firms most likely to be selected as investigators have begun preliminary practical reviews. The move comes amid expectations that the court will issue a swift decision to commence proceedings, given the growing public interest in the situation. With analysts saying JoongAng Group's subsidiaries are highly likely to flood the market during the rehabilitation process, accounting firms and investment banks (IBs) are already seen working to identify potential assets for sale.
According to the IB industry and legal circles on Wednesday, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court is expected to issue a commencement decision as quickly as possible after questioning the heads of the five JoongAng Group units on June 23. Along with the commencement decision, the court is expected to appoint a specific accounting firm as the investigator to conduct due diligence on the companies' finances, performance, and corporate value.
Accounting firms are paying close attention in advance to the court's investigator appointment trends because of the high public interest in the case. A firm selected as the investigator will be the first to conduct microscopic due diligence on the companies' assets, liabilities, and assets to be liquidated, then report to the court. For this reason, the industry assesses that such a firm gains a relative advantage over rivals in future competitions to be appointed as the managing underwriter for subsidiary sales.
Among the five affiliates that have filed for rehabilitation, JTBC and Contentree JoongAng are audited by Samil, Megabox JoongAng by Anjin, and JoongAng Holdings and JoongAng P&I by Woori Accounting Corporation. Due to a regulation barring an existing auditor from being appointed as the investigator, analysts say either Samjong or Hanyoung is highly likely to be chosen. However, the possibility remains that the court could assign two to three investigators across the individual affiliates to ensure swift and accurate investigation.
After the rehabilitation commences and the investigator is appointed, the market's attention is expected to turn to merger and acquisition (M&A) assets ahead of the approval of the rehabilitation plan. The IB industry cites as candidates Phoenix Sports, a Contentree JoongAng subsidiary that secured exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics and the World Cup worth 700 billion won; SLL JoongAng, which had received equity investment from a private equity fund (PEF); and Megabox JoongAng and Phoenix JoongAng, which had previously been considered for sale.
In addition, the industry believes that the sale of three real estate assets, including the Sangam headquarters building in Seoul, which had been pursued with Koramco Asset Trust selected as the preferred bidder, could be revived. Currently, all related work is frozen as the court has issued a comprehensive prohibition order on JoongAng Group's bonds and assets. If the trustee wishes to do so after the rehabilitation commencement decision, the procedure is expected to resume by again seeking the court's permission for a swift sale.
"If the sale of major subsidiaries faces difficulties, even the group's founding company could be put up for sale, so accounting firms are watching especially closely," an IB industry official said. "Since this is a situation that could shake the domestic media landscape, there will be high interest from many quarters."
