Crude oil and natural gas prices reached multiyear lows of approximately $26 per barrel for crude oil (as of January 2016) and $1.50 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) for natural gas (as of March 2016). This represented a 75 percent decline in the price of oil from its peak of approximately $105 per barrel in mid-2014 and an 80 percent decline in the price of natural gas from its early 2014 peak of over $8 per mmbtu. At the time, many industry observers predicted that depressed commodity prices would result in numerous bankruptcy filings and an uptick in M&A activity.
On January 17, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion in Marblegate Asset Management v. Education Management Corp., 15-2124-cv(L), 15-2141cv(CON) (2nd Cir. Jan. 17, 2017), overturning a broad interpretation of the Trust Indenture Act (TIA) by the U.S.
The insolvency of the CHC Group and over 40 directly or indirectly owned subsidiaries (collectively, CHC) will have a large impact on Canada given the size of CHC’s operations in the country. In general, the CHC insolvency could raise a range of core Cape Town Convention/Aircraft Protocol “CTC) issues should the applicable aircraft objects be subject to CTC international interests. In Canada, however, it is our understanding that the CTC is not applicable as the relevant aircraft in Canada were financed before the CTC came into force in Canada.
The Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) has closed the door on the application of equitable subordination in Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) proceedings. In U.S. Steel Canada Inc.
La Cour d’appel de l’Ontario (la « CAO ») a fermé la porte à l’application du principe de la subordination reconnue en equity dans le contexte des procédures instituées en vertu de la Loi sur les arrangements avec les créanciers des compagnies (la « LACC »). Dans l’affaire U.S. Steel Canada Inc.
The Blakes Aviation group, representing the underwriters led by Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, is pleased to have assisted in the closing of the third Air Canada enhanced equipment trust certificate (EETC) transaction.
In April 2013, we assisted in the structuring and closing of Air Canada EETC 2013-1 for five new Boeing 777 300ERs, which was a historic transaction, including the following features:
The Government of Canada recently introduced the Budget Implementation Act, 2016 No. 1 (Bill C-15) to implement certain initiatives announced in the March 2016 federal budget, including amendments to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act (CDIC Act).
On March 8, 2016, a bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York issued a much-anticipated decision, In re Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation,1 that will undoubtedly influence the reorganization strategies of certain exploration and production (E&P) companies and have a significant impact on midstream companies.
On February 29, 2016, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released a decision in the ongoing insolvency proceeding of U. S. Steel Canada Inc. (USSC). Two principal issues were addressed by the Court. First, whether amounts advanced by United States Steel Corporation (USS) to USSC (its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary) were properly characterized as debt obligations or “equity claims” under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) (CCAA).
Le 29 février 2016, la Cour supérieure de justice de l’Ontario (la « Cour ») a rendu une décision dans le cadre de la procédure d’insolvabilité en instance d’Acier U. S. Canada Inc. (« USSC »). Dans cette affaire, la Cour s’est penchée sur deux grandes questions.