In yet another major restructuring in the Netherlands, the Dutch Court confirmed a restructuring plan under the Dutch Act on Court Confirmation of a Private Restructuring Plan (WHOA). The public restructuring of the Steinhoff Group (Steinhoff) was approved by the Amsterdam Court on 21 June 2023, only seven days after the confirmation hearing.
The government’s Insolvency Service published its Post Implementation Review of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) on 27 June 2023. The overall conclusion from the data collected, including a survey of insolvency practitioners, is that the permanent CIGA measures have been broadly welcomed by stakeholders and are seen as a positive addition to the UK’s rescue framework.
On 16 May 2023, Mr Justice Adam Johnson in the High Court refused to sanction the restructuring plan proposed by The Great Annual Savings Company Limited (GAS) following objections from HMRC.
The High Court refused to sanction the restructuring plan put forward by Nasmyth Group Limited (Nasmyth) pursuant to Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 on 28 April 2023, despite both statutory conditions for cross-class cram down having been met.
Meanwhile, judgment is awaited in respect of the restructuring plan put forward by The Great Annual Savings Company Limited (GAS), which was proceeding simultaneously to Nasmyth and which also seeks to cram down HMRC.
The UK’s latest quarterly insolvency statistics have been published and, as predicted, continue to show a high rate of insolvencies, both in relation to pre-pandemic numbers and by comparison to last year’s Q1 results. The Q1 2023 statistics show a 18% increase in the overall number of registered company insolvencies from Q1 2022 and a 4% decrease from Q4 2022, with a total of 5,747 company insolvencies (seasonally adjusted) during this past quarter.
Artemis Amalia Metaxa, Chrysostomides Advocates & Legal Consultants
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
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In summary
Since the Dutch Act on Court Confirmation of a Private Restructuring Plan (“WHOA” or “Dutch Scheme”) entered into force on 1 January 2021, Dutch Courts have rendered over 200 judgments.
On 9 March 2023, (one of) the largest Dutch Schemes so far was successfully completed: the restructuring of Royal IHC and its subsidiaries (as announced in IHC’s press release). In this case, the Rotterdam Court made several important decisions enhancing the effectiveness and legal certainty surrounding the WHOA, including regarding:
Mark Fine, Aymen Mahmoud and Sunay Radia, McDermott Will & Emery
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
Luc Defferrard and Tervel Stoyanov, Walder Wyss Ltd
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.
Alexandros Kontogeorgiou and Georgia Papathanasiou, Kontogeorgiou Bakopanou & Associates Law Firm
This is an extract from the 2023 edition of GRR's Europe, Middle East and Africa Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.