In Re Proex Logistics, 2025 ONSC 51, Justice Steele of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) recently made a number of holdings related to the process for trustees accepting claims in a bankruptcy and other parties seeking to challenge those decisions. The Court held that:
Macfarlanes and Burness Paull recently advised Dobbies Garden Centres, the UK’s largest operator of garden centres, on its restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006, which was approved by Lord Braid in the Court of Session in Scotland on 9 December 2024.
Introducción
Este mes las resoluciones más interesantes están en los juzgados de lo mercantil.
El auto del Juzgado de lo Mercantil nº 1 de Málaga de 4 de noviembre de 2024 confirma la posibilidad de una segunda prorroga de los efectos de la comunicación de apertura de negociaciones con los acreedores, como ya hizo auto del Juzgado de lo Mercantil nº 2 de Madrid de 1 de octubre de 2024.
The decision in York, in the matter of Exactech, Inc [2024] FCA 1522 reaffirms the scope to recognise a US chapter 11 bankruptcy in Australia as a foreign main proceeding [1] and demonstrates the importance of interim stay orders in protecting the assets of debtors and the interests of creditors until the final determination of the recognition application.
The legal position on whether internal restructurings within South African businesses require prior approval from the competition authorities has been uncertain for some time. In a welcome development, on 24 January 2025, the Competition Commission took steps to clarify this issue by publishing draft guidelines on internal restructurings.
Discriminating DOCAs: when the courts will terminate a deed of company arrangement that seeks to discriminate against particular creditors.
With rising levels of corporate insolvencies, it is no surprise that the use of the voluntary administration regime for the purposes of putting forward a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) has increased. DOCAs have proven to be a time and cost-effective tool to recapitalise or restructure a distressed business.
The Barton doctrine provides that a court-appointed receiver cannot be sued absent “leave of court by which he was appointed.” Barton v. Barbour, 104 U.S. 126, 127 (1881).
On 31 December 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (the "Federal Court of Appeals") ruled that the uptiering transaction conducted by Serta Simmons Bedding LLC ("Serta") did not constitute an "open market purchase", reversing the 2023 summary judgment of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (the "Texas Bankruptcy Court") that rejected the excluded lenders' claims for breach of the credit agreement. The Federal Court of Appeals also reversed the approval of certain plan provisions relating to an indemnity for the uptiering transaction.
The common law of assignments for benefit of creditors (“ABCs”) has been around for a very long time as an out-of-court process under the law of trusts: debtor is trustor, assignee is trustee, and debtor’s creditors are beneficiaries.
And the common law of ABCs had already been well-established, when the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
key takeaways