On June 20, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in Ritchie v. Rupe, 2014 Tex. LEXIS 500 (Tex. 2014). In Ritchie, a minority shareholder in a closely held corporation attempted to force the majority shareholders to buy-out the minority shareholder’s interest in the corporation by bringing a claim of shareholder oppression under § 11.404 of the Texas Business Organizations Code (TBOC), the Texas receivership statute.

Re Christophorus 3 Limited [2014] EWHC 1162 (Ch)

Commercial landlords will be familiar with the practice that has grown up since the 2010 case of Goldacre of putting companies into administration immediately following a quarter day. By adopting this tactic, administrators have been able to avoid paying rent as an administration expense until the next quarter day while continuing to use the premises for the benefit of the administration.

A problem frequently faced by landlords in the current economic climate is that of tenants who time their entry into administration so that it takes place just after rent payable in advance on a quarter day has fallen due. This growing practice has left landlords frustrated and out of pocket.

In our last issue, we looked at the implications for out-of-court administrations where the company or directors seek to appoint an administrator under paragraph 22 of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986, but then discover that between filing their notice of intention to appoint and their notice of appointment, a winding-up petition has been presented, triggering paragraph 25 of the Schedule. Paragraph 25 prevents the appointment of an administrator under paragraph 22 where there is a pending winding-up petition.