Reorg on the Record; Greensill, Nordic Aviation Capital and Success for Open Justice in the English Courts

The English courts have seen a busy start to the year with a number of new precedents that will impact debtors and creditors in a post-Brexit, post-Covid world, particularly those involved in new Part 26A restructuring plans. The Part 26A tool had its pan-European effectiveness curtailed by the judgment of Justice Zacaroli in Gategroup’s restructuring plan. The Gategroup decision means that Part 26A plans will not fall under the remit of the Lugano or Hague conventions, making automatic recognition in E.U. member states more difficult. In the scheme of MAB Leasing Ltd., Justice Zacaroli held that numerous different lease obligations could be placed in the same single creditor class. The MAB precedent on treatment of leases could see retail landlords placed in a single class for the purposes of a Part 26A plan and potentially “crammed down” – an alternative to the traditional company voluntary arrangement route. Elsewhere, following application to the English High Court, Reorg gained access to previously private witness statements filed in Global Ports Holdings’ scheme. The application was a success for the principle of open justice.
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