There has been growing debate in recent years over the continued relevance of the common law rule in Antony Gibbs & Sons v La Societe Industrielle et Commerciale des Metaux (1890) LR 25 QBD 399 (the “Gibbs Principle”). The Gibbs Principle basically means that where a contract is governed by the law of a particular country, it cannot be discharged or compromised under the insolvency law of another country — unless the creditor has submitted to that other jurisdiction.
After two years of being held virtually, ABI’s in-person Cross-Border Insolvency Program resumed on Nov. 14 in the Blank Rome LLP Conference Center in Manhattan. Thanks go to Evan Zucker and Blank Rome for hosting the conference.
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, ABI held its annual International Insolvency & Restructuring Symposium in person, returning to London Oct. 13-14. The symposium was held in conjunction with the American College of Bankruptcy, the International Insolvency Institute (III), INSOL, IWIRC and TMA Europe, and featured many of the hottest topics in international restructurings.
The International Committee community continues to grow! We are excited to introduce and welcome the following new members who joined our committee between July and October 2022.
UK-based energy services provider Altera Infrastructure has emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy, a few months after filing for it, Offshore-Energy.biz reported. Thanks to a charter for an FPSO, which is expected to be deployed at one of the largest undeveloped oil fields in the UK, the firm expects to strengthen its balance sheet further, as it sees this as a foundation for long-term growth if this project goes ahead. Back in August 2022, Altera Infrastructure, formerly a part of Teekay, entered a chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the U.S. to address its debt of over $1.5 billion. As explained at the time, the firm executed a restructuring support agreement (the RSA) with approximately 71 per cent of its funded debt obligations, which included an investment management company Brookfield and a super-majority of its bank lenders. Altera Shuttle Tankers and FPSO joint ventures were not part of the restructuring process. In an update on Monday, Altera Infrastructure revealed that it has emerged from the chapter 11 process in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after consummating its chapter 11 plan of reorganisation. This restructuring, which was consummated approximately five months after the chapter 11 process started, addressed more than $1 billion of secured and unsecured holding company debt, $400 million of preferred equity, and $550 million of secured asset-level bank debt, including unsecured guarantees of such debt issued by the firm. Read more.
U.S. managed services and cloud connectivity provider GTT, formerly called Global Telecom and Technology, has emerged from its chapter 11 bankruptcy cases after more than two years of corporate and financial restructuring, BNAmericas.com reported. The company, which maintains ethernet and IP sites in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City, first filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2021. "Over the past two years, we have concentrated relentlessly on transforming our business into a customer-focused, managed services provider with a culture of continuous improvement. As we begin 2023 on a new path, I’m tremendously excited about the opportunities ahead,” CEO Ernie Ortega said. Throughout this period, the company has managed to reduce its debt by around $2.8 billion and bring in new investors. For example, it sold its infrastructure division to I Squared Capital for $2.1 billion, cutting debt by approximately 80%, according to GTT.
Cineworld, the British cinema operator in bankruptcy proceedings, said today that it would not sell any of its assets individually, and that it had not held discussions with AMC Entertainment about the sale of any of its theaters, Reuters reported. The British company said it would focus on selling the group as a whole rather than disposing of individual assets, along with its restructuring efforts, and was expecting to start reaching out to potential parties for a sale later this month. Cineworld said today that it had not held discussions with AMC about the sale of any of its cinema assets, in response to media reports, and that talks about a reorganisation of its U.S. operations were ongoing. In October, Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain operator, announced a bankruptcy settlement with its landlords and lenders, clearing the way for the company to borrow funds and make a $1 billion debt repayment.
