Our London Financial Restructuring team authored the UK chapter of the 8th Edition of The Legal 500’s “Restructuring & Insolvency Comparative Guide". The guide provides information on the current issues affecting...more
Before the pandemic, a popular way for businesses to cut their operational costs was through a company voluntary arrangement. In the space of a few years, a long line of retailers and other occupiers used CVAs to reduce rents...more
The Part 26A restructuring plan has introduced significant cross-class cramdown powers that may impact the defined benefit pension arrangements in the UK. As the UK looks set to enter a new restructuring cycle, the...more
How do you improve the image of company voluntary arrangements? Start by reforming the voting rules. A recent research paper commissioned by the Insolvency Service concluded that property owners were “broadly” treated...more
On 28 June 2022 the Insolvency Service published a report it had commissioned from RSM UK to assess the impact that CVAs were having on commercial landlords (the “Report”). The Report was commissioned in response to a number...more
The company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is an insolvency process that has raised significant concern amongst commercial property owners in recent years about their use by tenant companies to change lease terms, write off...more
The High Court has dismissed an application by a landlord creditor to overturn a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) implemented by coffee shop chain Caffé Nero. The CVA, previously approved by its creditors, compromised...more
In the latest High Court decision relating to Company Voluntary Arrangements in the UK, the judge held that the Regis hairdressing group CVA should be revoked on the basis that it favoured shareholders at the expense of...more
In Standish & Ors v The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc & Anor (the “Judgment”), the High Court confirmed that the duties owed by a shadow director are limited to the subject matter of their instructions. This alert is...more
On 19 September 2019, Norris J handed down judgment in the challenge brought by six landlords against the Debenhams Retail Limited (Debenhams) company voluntary arrangement (CVA) which was approved by 94.71% of Debenham’s...more
The financial distress in the UK high street has brought with it a resurgence of the use of company voluntary arrangements (“CVAs”)....more
In Wright (and another) (as joint liquidators of SHB Realisations Ltd (formerly BHS Ltd) (in liquidation)) v Prudential Assurance Company Ltd, the court held that, when the BHS CVA terminated, the landlord was entitled to...more
The English High Court has decided that collapsed retailer British Home Stores cannot challenge its own company voluntary arrangement as an unenforceable contractual penalty and must repay rental discounts to its landlords...more