Regional news: Africa & Middle East

In separate actions in Australia, the voluntary administrators of a Congolese gold mine owner have secured permission to serve a security interest claim on a Harneys arm in the BVI, while a Queensland court is to consider recognising a Singaporean personal bankruptcy.

23 February 2021

A pan-African telecoms group that shifted its COMI from Mauritius to England in January has filed restructuring plan proceedings in London to secure new money to tide it over while it completes a sales process.

19 February 2021

A US investor linked to Centerbridge Partners has agreed to withdraw its application to appoint a Dutch restructuring expert over South African conglomerate Steinhoff, while the group’s former auditor Deloitte has pledged €70 million to support a global settlement of litigation claims.

15 February 2021

Namibia’s government said it will file for the voluntary liquidation of the country’s flag carrier, two weeks after the airline reached an agreement over historic unpaid debts with Belgium’s defunct ChallengeAir.

15 February 2021

Featured in Unpacked

GRR investigates how the Australian parent of a Congolese copper miner became the first company in the common law world to implement a guarantor’s scheme of arrangement, against a “well-funded, well-advised” opposing creditor and where restructuring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or England was deemed possible, but impractical.

12 February 2021

Alvarez & Marsal has appointed the interim CFO of struggling hospital operator NMC Healthcare to lead its Middle East restructuring practice in Dubai.

11 February 2021

Zambia’s ministry of finance announced it had become the third African country to request debt relief under the G20’s new common framework this week, but a local lawyer tells GRR that upcoming elections and its Eurobond default may complicate negotiations.

09 February 2021

Featured in Heads-Up

“There's a lot of dry capital sitting there waiting to be used”. Head of Webber Wentzel’s restructuring and insolvency team Khurshid Fazel tells GRR about opportunities in the distressed M&A space in Africa, how her views on globalisation have changed, and why she thinks firms that commoditise parts of their offering are going to get an edge in the future.

05 February 2021

South African conglomerate Steinhoff has secured sanction of its latest English scheme after the High Court dismissed objections made by a US fund linked to distressed investor Centerbridge Partners.

05 February 2021

Creditors of Southeast Asia’s largest shipping liner, Pacific International Lines, have approved an unusual scheme that the company’s lawyers say was negotiated outside Singapore’s typical moratorium process to avoid another Hanjin blowout.

02 February 2021