Regional news: Luxembourg
Galapagos declaratory trial kicks off in London
A two-week trial is under way in London to consider the validity of the Galapagos group’s heavily contested 2019 restructuring, which left its private equity shareholder in place and high yield noteholders with nothing – and a German insolvency administrator has already asked the court not to make any findings of fact because they could result in inconsistent rulings across Europe.
10 March 2023
Adler noteholder lodges Frankfurt suit challenging note issuer substitution
A noteholder of German real estate group Adler has lodged a complaint in a Frankfurt regional court, challenging the group’s substitution of an English subsidiary as note issuer to pursue an English restructuring plan.
09 March 2023
Adler convening judgment sheds light on cross-border, cross-class questions left to sanction stage
Mr Justice Mann has issued his reasons for deciding to let German real estate group Adler convene six UK plan meetings while postponing certain key issues to the sanction stage – including a point about “artificiality” of voting classes that the judge confessed he did not really understand.
27 February 2023
Adler secures UK plan meetings for six creditor classes
German real estate group Adler has persuaded an English judge to let it hold plan meetings for six creditor classes next month, leaving complaints over the substitution of the notes’ issuer for a UK subsidiary to the sanction stage – but a bondholder has already stated it will “imminently” pursue similar complaints in a German court.
24 February 2023
Germany’s highest court finds Dusseldorf has jurisdiction over Galapagos proceedings
Contradicting an earlier English ruling, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has found that heat exchange group Galapagos’ insolvency proceedings and disputes relating to them belong in Dusseldorf post-Brexit, and not in London where the group was wound up in June.
02 February 2023
Adler changes restructuring plans as bondholders block proposals
An ad hoc group of bondholders has voted against proposed changes to the terms of their notes in German real estate group Adler’s US$1 billion restructuring, but sources tell GRR the company plans to move forward with a risky alternative implementation process.
20 December 2022
White & Case advising as Adler Group enters lock-up with bondholders
German real estate group Adler has reached an agreement with its bondholders to extend maturities on notes that were due in July next year and secure almost €1 billion of new financing, after it was rocked by fraud allegations last year.
30 November 2022
Historic buildings investor’s Luxembourg liquidator seeks Chapter 15 recognition
The Luxembourgish liquidator of a mutual investment fund that invests in historic buildings has applied for Chapter 15 recognition in New York to enlist the local courts’ cooperation, as he seeks to investigate transactions allegedly carried out by the debtor’s US sub-fund in contravention of Luxembourg law.
15 November 2022
Hellas bondholders allowed to bring New York fraud claims after decade-long pursuit
After 11 years of trying, an assignee of certain Hellas bondholders has finally been allowed to pursue claims against the group’s former private equity investors, who it claims forced the Greek telecoms company to “commit business suicide” by overleveraging itself to pay them billions in dividends.
28 October 2022
Shandong Ruyi subsidiary has no prospect of success in €250m bond claim, English court rules
Loan agency and bond trustee service provider GLAS was validly appointed trustee to bonds issued by a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of Chinese fashion conglomerate Shandong Ruyi and may pursue it for €250 million in debt, an English court has affirmed – the latest event in a two-year multi-jurisdictional dispute between bondholders and issuer over the shares in a French fashion house.
21 October 2022