A Warsaw court has issued two decisions in quick succession, opening sanction proceedings first at Hawe Telekom, an operating company in the Hawe group that owns the fibre-optic network, and then at the parent company. There are opinions that the content of the court's decision will hinder the smooth restructuring of the group. Hawe Telekom's management believes that this is possible under certain conditions.
After recent court decisions, restructuring of the Hawe group may be difficult to carry out - point out the lawyers, but also the creditors of the fibre optic group.
The company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange first announced the decision of the Warsaw court regarding the opening sanitation proceedings in the subsidiary – Hawe Telekom, and on Tuesday about a similar decision for the listed company itself. Doubts are raised by the fact that each of the companies received a different composition of people responsible for asset management and supervision. In Hawe Telekom, the manager was PMR Restructuring Company. In Hawe – Wojciech Makuć, who in January was the compulsory administrator in this company. Each of the companies also has a different judge-commissioner.
- These two decisions could set a dangerous precedent for restructuring procedures, made all the more dangerous by the fact that the restructuring law is barely 2 months old and every ruling is carefully scrutinised -. Tom Ruhan, former member of the Netia board, who managed composition proceedings telecom companies.
- What was the main goal of the new law? Providing companies with protection against creditors for restructuring purposes, following the example of the famous American "chapter 11. Is it achievable with this approach of the court when Several companies require restructuring from the group, linked not only by capital but also by common obligations? Can the creditors be satisfied with these decisions? I am not convinced. Time will tell – Ruhan adds.
In his opinion, effective and simultaneous restructuring of several companies from the group is possible, but requires precise coordination of the actions of judges and managers responsible for each of them, which should have a common goal.
- There is no other way to achieve this than to engage only people in each company who have a broader viewing situation and powers, and also have the ability to make the right decisions efficiently, without wasting time on "negotiating" them. Competition between managers or judges is unnecessary in an already complicated situation, as are the additional risks of decision-making stalemates. A clear leader of restructuring is needed, who goes beyond the horizon of one company, looking at the whole group. I cannot imagine that it would not be the manager of the main operating company, which, apart from the obligated ones, has assets and the ability to generate revenues to repay them. But in order to be able to use this, he should also exercise capital control over the rest of the companies, i.e. be the manager of the company at the head of the group. Otherwise, it will be a horror for the creditors, whose degree of satisfaction will depend on the decisions and actions of two different centers, often with conflicting interests - says the lawyer.
About potential difficulties in effective restructuring group, we talked to Maciej Pietrzak, president of PMR Restrukturyzacje.
Rpkom.pl: Are the decisions of the court in Warsaw to open sanitation proceedings in Hawe Telekom and Hawe binding?
Maciej Pietrzak, President of PMR Restructuring: - The court's decision to open sanction proceedings is in principle unappealable. Only the jurisdiction of the court, which in this case is not in doubt, can be complained about.
Is the fact that the court appointed a separate team of judge commissioner and managers for Hawe Telekom and a separate one for Hawe may complicate the restructuring of the group?
– With the cooperation of both administrators and judge-commissioners, it is of course possible to effectively conduct the restructuring proceedings in Hawe and Hawe Telekom in parallel. Will it be easy? From the perspective of an individual administrator, there are no particular difficulties, problems may rather arise in terms of effective restructuring the entire capital group. These issues are signalled already in the applications, e.g. creditors refer to UNICTRAL recommendations (no. 199, 202 or 203), which indicate that in the case of restructuring capital groups, it is reasonable to personally combine the proceedings as regards their bodies, and full cooperation of the bodies is advisable and they should at least contact each other directly. These issues are also in the hands of the court and the creditors' council - so I have no doubt that the proceedings will proceed smoothly.
What is the situation at Hawe Telekom?
- The situation is stabilizing at Hawe Telekom. We have good ongoing contact with the staff and representatives of the company. Since the opening of the restructuring proceedings suspends the enforcement, the company regains the ability to settle liabilities on an ongoing basis. It is important to improve relations with contractors with whom we also try to maintain and develop contacts commercial.
I can generally say that foreign contractors show a much greater understanding of the situation in which Hawe Telekom is currently located. They better understand what restructuring is: they can even congratulate and wish you good luck without showing any concern.
What steps will you be taking now?
– The administrators currently have 30 days to prepare restructuring plans and lists of receivables based on the company's books and documents. Nevertheless, PMR Restrukturyzacje, as the administrator Hawe Telekom – also notifies all creditors in writing about the actions taken. Information about the preparation of the list of receivables will be announced in the MSiG and published on the company's website. Creditors will have the right to file an objection.
Sanacja suspends execution. What does it mean for Hawe Telecom?
- Funds seized by the bailiff and not distributed - will revert to the company. However, the majority has already been distributed. As of today, we do not yet have precise information on the exact balance of the company's liabilities and receivables.
We also have a lot of work ahead of us arrangement proposals, in which the creditors' council and of course the debtor's representatives can play an active role. We are convinced that we will be able to carry out an effective restructuring and conclude an arrangement that will be implemented and the creditors will be paid.
This article appeared on 9 March 2016 on rpkom.co.uk
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