These case summaries first appeared in LexisNexis’ Insolvency Case Alerter. They represent some of the more interesting insolvency decisions to have been published recently.
This summary covers:
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina, October 14, 2021
In Pharmagona Limited v Taheri,(1) the High Court refused to seal and issue a contempt application as the breach, if it had occurred, was only technical, and it was therefore inappropriate for the application to succeed.
Facts
Two recent decisions from Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware address common-interest and attorney work-product protection issues that arose in the bankruptcy case of In re Imerys Talc America, Inc., No. 19-10289 (Bankr. D. Del.).1 Those decisions delineate the interests (and concomitant privilege and work-product protections) of certain parties in Chapter 11 cases, and their reasoning provides instructive guidance on those often misunderstood issues outside of bankruptcy as well.
The Supreme Court of New South Wales has recently handed down its decision in proceedings (“Arrium Proceedings”) brought by a number of lenders against former officers and employees of Arrium Limited and its subsidiaries (“Arrium”).
Introduction
Justice Ball’s landmark decision1 dismissing the lenders’ claims addressed various important issues that often arise when a borrower is facing financial distress in Australia, including:
Exploring the bounds of concreteness and traceability following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, the Sixth Circuit in Krueger v. Experian, et al. recently reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a lender in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case, finding that the plaintiff had a sufficiently concrete injury to support Article III standing.
On October 14, 2021, Gulf Coast Health Care of Pensacola, FL, a healthcare company with 27 skilled nursing centers and two assisted living locations throughout Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 21-11336).
On October 14, 2021, Teligent, Inc. of Iselin, NJ, a specialty generic pharmaceutical company, filed a petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 21-11332). As of August, 31st, the company reports $85 million in assets and $135.8 million in total debts.
On October 10, 2021, Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a temporary restraining order, delaying implementation of Purdue Pharma’s plan of reorganization, which was confirmed by Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain on September 17th, pending argument on the U.S.
Where a shareholder has redeemed his shareholding following a failed investment without objection some months prior to the initiation of a voluntary liquidation, the Court will not permit him to use the statutory deferral provisions relating to voluntary liquidations for an abusive or improper purpose. This includes using such proceedings as leverage to exert undue pressure in proposed claims against the company or directors.