Hypermarket chain Homeplus is facing strong opposition from its labor union and in-store franchise owners after announcing plans to pursue a merger and acquisition(M&A) before a court approves its rehabilitation plan.

At a press conference Friday, an emergency committee representing union members and franchise owners accused MBK Partners, the company’s largest shareholder, of attempting an “asset-stripping” exit without taking responsibility for Homeplus’ financial troubles.

In March, MBK Partners filed for court-led restructuring of South Korea’s No. 2 grocery retailer to avoid bankruptcy.

The committee called on MBK to inject capital directly to stabilize operations and urged the government to intervene.

They also demanded that workers and franchisees be included in any future M&A process.

On Thursday, Samil PwC, the court-appointed investigator, submitted a report to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court valuing Homeplus’ liquidation assets at 3.7 trillion won, approximately 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, and its going-concern value at 2.5 trillion won.