With administration figures creeping back up after falling to low levels during the pandemic, the number of pre-pack sales of businesses in administration also appears to be on the increase. In such transactions, a purchaser acquires all, or substantially all, of the business and assets of the insolvent company from the administrator, with the terms of the deal being agreed pre-appointment and completion usually taking place immediately after the administrator takes office.

Key Points

On 22 July 2022, judgment was handed down in relation to the sanction of the first Part 26A restructuring plan to be proposed by a small–medium enterprise (SME) in Re Houst Limited [2022] EWHC 1941 (Ch). The restructuring plan (RP) procedure set out in Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) has been widely considered to be out of the reach of SMEs due to excessive cost. The decision is also an interesting one for other reasons, notably the cram-down of HMRC as a dissenting creditor.

The Insolvency Service has published a consultation on the implementation of two UNCITRAL "model laws" relating to insolvency: the Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments (MLIJ), and the Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvency (MLEG). The UK has already enacted legislation based on the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, in the form of the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR).

What effect will government proposals have on insurers, policyholders and other stakeholders?

Insolvency figures for May 2022 were published by the Insolvency Service on 17 June, and reveal an increase in corporate insolvencies both compared to pandemic and pre-pandemic levels.

To promote the finality and binding effect of confirmed chapter 11 plans, the Bankruptcy Code categorically prohibits any modification of a confirmed plan after it has been "substantially consummated." Stakeholders, however, sometimes attempt to skirt this prohibition by characterizing proposed changes to a substantially consummated chapter 11 plan as some other form of relief, such as modification of the confirmation order or a plan document, or reconsideration of the allowed amount of a claim. The U.S.

In Re Edengate Homes (Butley Hall) Limited (in liquidation) [2022] EWCACiv 626, the Court of Appeal considered a challenge to an assignment of claims by a liquidator.

Perhaps surprisingly given the rarity of such cases, a handful of high-profile court rulings recently have addressed whether a solvent chapter 11 debtor is obligated to pay postpetition, pre-effective date interest ("pendency interest") to unsecured creditors to render their claims "unimpaired" under a chapter 11 plan and, if so, at what rate.

Customers of Amigo loans will have the opportunity to vote at creditor meetings in relation to two alternative scheme proposals, following its recent leave to convene hearing. In a judgment handed down on 15 March, the court gave leave to convene simultaneous creditors' meetings in relation to two schemes - termed the "New Business Scheme" and the "Wind-Down Scheme".