Executive Summary
British universities facing financial challenges and shifting enrollment patterns are considering restructuring plans in light of potential insolvencies.
Judges of Barcelona unify principles on certain points of insolvency law
International case law
European jurisprudence on universal and territorial procedures
Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of April 18, 2024 (AIR BERLIN case)
On 11 June 2024, Mr. Justice Leech handed down a landmark UK judgment relating to wrongful trading and misfeasance against the former directors of the BHS Group of companies (BHS) pursuant to the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA86).
The 533-page judgment saw one of the largest reported wrongful trading awards since the introduction of IA86, as well as a novel claim for “misfeasant trading.”
On 4 March 2024, Mr Justice Richards of the English High Court delivered a judgment (the Judgment) in relation to the sanction of the restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 (the Plan) of Project Lietzenburger Straße HoldCo S.à r.l. (the Plan Company). The Judgment required that a new creditors’ meeting of the Plan Company’s senior creditors be convened to vote on an amended Plan.
To modernise the restructuring toolkit available to special administrators, the UK government has introduced changes to the English special administration regime (SAR)1 for distressed water companies. The changes follow reports of significant stress in the water services sector.
New Changes
Over the past several years, unitranche facilities have become increasingly prevalent. This growth has been driven by the ever-growing class of private credit and direct lenders who initially developed the unitranche facility structure, along with traditional bank lenders now joining this market. The unitranche structure has several advantages, including typically quicker execution for the parties involved and in some cases a lower cost of capital to the borrower.
La nueva regulación concursal permite a los acreedores de una compañía insolvente convertirse en nuevos dueños con un plan de reestructuración homologado por un juez. El caso Celsa, el primero en el que unos fondos han presentado un plan hostil para hacerse con la empresa, anima a que las empresas familiares tomen medidas de manera anticipada.
Bed Bath & Beyond, the home goods retailer, has filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and plans to conduct liquidation sales and close all of its brick-and-mortar stores by June 30, as reported by The New York Times. The retailer points to an inability to adjust to the growth of online shopping as a reason for its downfall.