Regional news: Europe
ED&F Man and NMC complete restructurings on same day
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Norton Rose Fulbright have helped agricultural commodities trader ED&F Man complete its restructuring featuring a Part 26A plan; while a court in Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone has sealed Middle Eastern healthcare group NMC’s US$7.6 billion restructuring, by affirming the first judicial reorganisation in the UAE through an administration.
01 April 2022
Smile Telecoms secures landmark sanction
Mauritius-registered telecoms group Smile Holdings has won sanction of its restructuring plan, after the English High Court found it had jurisdiction to alter the constitution and share capital of the company without the need for a parallel plan in its place of incorporation.
30 March 2022
Lehman Brothers administrator leaves PwC to launch new firm
Long-time PwC partner Russell Downs has left the Big Four firm to launch his own restructuring boutique in London, telling GRR he expects to see an increase in insolvency proceedings as a result of Western sanctions on Russia.
30 March 2022
Galapagos jurisdictional battles reach EU Court of Justice
Jurisdictional battles surrounding the restructuring of the Galapagos group have reached the European Court of Justice, in a ruling on which courts have jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings where there has been centre of main interests shift to the UK, then potentially to Germany, against the backdrop of Brexit.
25 March 2022
Mallinckrodt faces Chapter 11 appeals, enters parallel Irish examinership
Health insurance companies that are appealing pharma manufacturer Mallinckrodt’s recently-confirmed Chapter 11 plan, have failed to obtain a stay on distributions pending appeal, as a court in Ireland relied on a 2016 precedent to open up parallel proceedings and appoint a Grant Thornton managing director as examiner.
25 March 2022
Ogier ordered to stay on as counsel to sanctioned Russian bank after raising concerns
Offshore firm Ogier has been prevented from coming off the record as counsel to Russia’s VTB Bank, as a British Virgin Islands court declined to discharge local receivers appointed for the sanctioned bank's benefit, while permitting them to take no further actions in fulfilment of their role.
24 March 2022
RJ Gaito hires space mining start-up entrepreneur to head restructuring practice
Luxembourg law firm RJ Gaito has hired a new head for its finance and restructuring practice, who previously advised Abengoa through its second restructuring in 2019 and has recently helped found a space mining start-up.
24 March 2022
Swiss court weighs in on the distribution of liquidation surplus for dissolved entities
Switzerland’s highest court has ruled that where a company is liquidated due to organisational defects, the court-appointed cantonal bankruptcy office overseeing its liquidation must return surplus assets to either a debtor or a deposit and consignment fund.
24 March 2022
ED&F Man secures cramdown as English plan sanctioned
Agricultural commodities trader ED&F Man has had its Part 26A plan sanctioned despite one creditor class rejecting it, with the English High Court agreeing to impose a cross-class cramdown.
23 March 2022
Scotsman’s bankruptcy discharge allowed after five years of inaction in Gibraltar
Gibraltarian bankruptcy trustees from Begbies Traynor and PwC have failed to stop a Scottish former hedge fund manager’s automatic discharge, after a local court found they didn’t engage with the bankrupt during the relevant statutory period.
22 March 2022