Die Woche des 25. März laut Steinhoff
Genauso wie bereits seit 21.2. bekannt ( belegt durch einen im wallstreet online Forum geposteten Bericht)
Source: Debtwire COURT: LSW challenge to Steinhoff CVA trial pencilled in for week of 25 March 21 February 2019 | 19:32 CET A substantive hearing on the challenge raised by LSW GmbH against a debt workout plan put forward by Steinhoff Europe AG (SEAG) will likely be heard during the week starting on 25 March across two days. At the end of a hearing held earlier today (21 February), Judge Clive Jones said that he would recommend to the listing department of the High Court scheduling the hearing for the first half of that week. SEAG, the European arm of South African furniture group Steinhoff, has been in restructuring negotiations with its creditors since late 2017 following the discovery of discrepancies in its accounts. The company’s disputed plan, which was presented under a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), was approved by holders of 94% of the affected debt in December 2018. To use the CVA, the company moved its centre of main interest to the UK from Austria. In broad terms, LSW argues that, firstly, the English court has no jurisdiction to adjudicate on SEAG’s CVA, because the COMI shift was “an abuse of EU law”. And secondly, the holdout creditor argues that the CVA is unfairly prejudicial to the interests of LSW, among other things, because of the resulting subordination of intragroup debts. The timing of the hearing is of critical importance to the company as until and unless the LSW challenge is resolved, the CVA cannot be fully implemented. As a result, SEAG’s lawyers have asked the court to deal with the matter on expedited basis. LSW, while not opposed to expedition, is insisting on certain disclosures and forensic examination of accounting evidence. Appearing on behalf of SEAG, barrister Adam Al-Attar told the court that finding a suitable slot for the hearing was particularly difficult due to a “stampede of mergers” in the run-up to the looming Brexit deadline of 29 March. The financial year’s deadline also adds to the court calendar’s congestion. Andreas Siefert, a former business partner of Steinhoff, is sole managing director of LSW. Part of those 2011 agreements included a loan of EUR 299.93m to AIH Investment Holding AG made by LSW GmbH (EUR 291.4m outstanding as of 4 December 2018). This loan is the subject of litigation in Austria based on two grounds: non-payment of the outstanding amount and “unjust enrichment." Al Attar also noted that whatever the outcome of the trial, the losing side was likely to appeal the decision. LSW’s lawyers said that they were fine with the suggested dates, but added that the real deadline for the company was 18 April, implying that there would be sufficient time to lodge an appeal. The parties also told the court that steps will be taken to stop parallel applications in Austria. The decision to dismiss them will, however, belong to the Austrian courts, according to a source familiar with the situation. LSW is linked to former Steinhoff partner Andreas Seifert, who has been involved in a long-running legal battle with the retail group. Today’s hearing followed another case management session held on 14 February, in which the parties made their cases over the extent of the disclosures to be made by SEAG, as reported. SEAG also requested that the application be heard in private “to the extent necessary” and evidence be sealed on the court file. LSW did not oppose this request. At that hearing, Judge Jones asked the parties to make additional submissions in writing and to present him with a draft order after narrowing down their differences. The parties have now agreed that LSW has the liberty to apply for specific disclosure if necessary after SEAG serves its evidence. Representing LSW today, barrister Matthew Abraham told the court that his clients’ concern was that in the disclosure exercise SEAG might resort to “cherry-picking”, insisting that they were not seeking “wide-ranging” disclosures. In brief allusions to the substance of the dispute, Abraham said that in giving weight to the 94% favourable vote of SEAG’s creditors, the court should take into account the information available to them at the time of the vote. LSW argues, among other things, that certain relevant aspects of Austrian law had not been brought to the attention of the voting creditors. Al Attar replied that the CVA was “a very broad compromise” supported by an overwhelming majority of the creditors, and that it was not affected by any “material irregularity”, adding that “the court should be slow to defer” from its outcome. He rejected the suggestion that the creditors did not have sufficient information prior to the vote, noting that none of the CVA creditors have so far supported LSW’s challenge. SEAG is advised by law firm Linklaters. LSW is advised by law firm Stevens & Bolton. The case number is CR-2018-010352.
Steinhoff International | wallstreet-online.de - Vollständige Diskussion unter:
www.wallstreet-online.de/diskussion/...tional#neuster_beitrag
Zurück
