The High Court (Court) recently dismissed a petition seeking the winding up of a biofuel company (Company).

The ex tempore judgment is of note because it considers the standing of the Petitioner to bring the application and the consequences of a relevant witness not being cross-examined by the Petitioner on his affidavit evidence regarding the solvency of the Company.

Background

A perfect storm of rising costs, labour shortages and high interest rates is resulting in an increasing amount of financial distress in the construction sector. What warning signs should lenders look out for? What are the implications under the loan agreement and how can lenders mitigate the risks of insolvent contractors?

The scheme of arrangement (Rescue Plan) prepared by the examiner of Mac Interiors Limited (Company) has not been approved by the High Court following strong objections from the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue).

In its challenge, Revenue argued that there had been an error in “class composition” or, in other words, an error in the classification of creditors that voted on the Rescue Plan.

Class Composition

In this Update we take a look at key legal developments for trustees of occupational pension schemes over the past quarter. These include some important cases such as the decision in Virgin Media Limited v NTL Pension Trustees II Limited regarding the consequences of failing to obtain a section 37 certificate, and the decision in British Broadcasting Corporation v BBC Pension Trust Limited regarding whether a reference to members' "interests" in a scheme amendment power included the right to continue to accrue future service benefits.

In BRASS Trustees Ltd v Goldstone the High Court has approved a decision by a scheme trustee to issue winding up petitions against the pension scheme's sponsoring employers. The trustee sought the court's approval under rules which allow a trustee to seek the court's approval where the decision a trustee is about to make is "particularly momentous".

An article for Insolvency Practitioners and other insolvency specialists outlining the challenges and pitfalls of obtaining recognition of a Trustee in Bankruptcy to enable enforcement over assets in France in a post-Brexit and post-Covid cross-border insolvency landscape.

Introduction

A previously unsettled aspect regarding the High Court’s (Court) jurisdiction to appoint an examiner to a company which is not formed or registered under the Companies Act 2014 (2014 Act), has been considered in the recent case of In the matter of MAC Interiors Ltd [2023] IEHC 395.

Earlier this year, a group of bondholders advised by William Fry and owed over US$175m by GTLK Europe DAC (GTLK Europe) and GTLK Europe Capital DAC (GTLK Capital) (collectively the Companies) petitioned for the winding up of the Companies on a number of grounds, including that they had failed to discharge scheduled interest payments and the accelerated debt constituted by the bonds following the interest payment defaults.

The High Court (Court) had to determine whether proceeds from two investments in the estate in the bankruptcy of Bernard McNamara (McNamara) were payable to NALM under its security package, or whether they should be retained in the estate in the bankruptcy of McNamara for the benefit of creditors generally (substantive question).

The High Court (Court) has found that it was not appropriate to make a winding up order in respect of a company under section 760(2) of the Companies Act 2014 (Act), where no party was nominated or consented to act as liquidator.