Quick action can save a company

Restructuring through an arrangement with creditors is gaining more and more supporters. It allows a company not only to get back on its feet, but also to continue operating successfully.

W pierwszych trzech kwartałach tego roku ogłoszono w sumie 325 postępowań restrukturyzacyjnych. To o 3,5 proc. więcej niż przed rokiem, i ponad dwa razy tyle co w pierwszym roku funkcjonowania nowych przepisów – wynika z danych Coface. W efekcie restrukturyzacje stanowią już 44 proc. wszystkich ogłaszanych przez sądy postępowań restrukturyzacyjnych i upadłościowych. Najbardziej znamienny jest jednak wzrost przyspieszonych postępowań układowych. Ich liczba w skali ostatniego roku zwiększyła się o 15 proc. do 229, przez co stanowią już 70 proc. wszystkich postępowań restrukturyzacyjnych i 31 proc. ogółu postanowień sądowych. Skąd ta popularność?

- Restructuring proceedings suspend initiated executions and protect the company's assets. It therefore provides an opportunity for its continued use in the company's operations, which may improve its asset situation. Thanks to the procedure, the maturity of debts is suspended and a payment memorandum is introduced. It is also attractive to the company due to its short duration, explains Marlena Grybowicz, an expert from PMR Restructuring.

The application prepared and submitted by the debtor must be examined by the court within one week of its receipt. Moreover, it examines it in closed session, i.e. without the participation of creditors, on the basis of the documents attached to the application, i.e. the arrangement proposals with the preliminary restructuring plan, list of assets, balance sheet, list of creditors, sum of receivables and list of disputed receivables. Upon granting the application, the court issues a decision, appoints a commissioner judge and a court supervisor licensed as a restructuring advisor. This may be a natural or legal person. The supervisor then draws up a list of claims, a list of disputed claims and a restructuring plan within two weeks. In the accelerated arrangement procedure, it is the creditors who decide how they want to be satisfied by voting on the arrangement proposals submitted. The procedure in this case is therefore substantially deformed. A deadline for voting on the arrangement should be set without undue delay. The debtor may conclude an arrangement with some or all of its counterparties.

- Once the proceedings have been initiated, the company is protected against bailiff enforcement, as individual enforcement of receivables covered by the agreement is no longer permissible and the court notifies the bailiffs. This quick procedure allows to protect the company's activity and preserve financial means for current business activity, explains Małgorzata Anisimowicz, President of the Management Board of PMR Restrukturyzacje

In a nutshell, such a procedure brings relief to debtors in need of immediate judicial protection from enforcement by creditors. There are more benefits. There is also a suspension of payment of claims arising before the date of the opening of the procedure. Their payment will only take place after the creditors have voted on the arrangement proposals proposed by the debtor.
In addition, from the date of commencement of the accelerated arrangement procedure until the date of its termination or until a decision on discontinuance of the accelerated arrangement procedure becomes final, termination by the lessor or lessor of a lease agreement of premises or real property on which the debtor's business is conducted without the consent of the creditors' council is not permitted. The same is true for credit, leasing, property insurance, bank account, surety agreements or agreements covering licences granted to the debtor.

– Warto dodać, że w przyspieszonym postępowaniu układowym dłużnik może zachować zarząd nad spółką, czyli nie traci nad nią kontroli a wręcz otrzymuje wsparcie doradcy restrukturyzacyjnego który wspiera go i przeprowadza przez proces restrukturyzacji firmy- dodaje Małgorzata Anisimowicz.
Finally, as he stresses, the initiation of proceedings protects the members of the board of directors from personal liability for unsatisfied liabilities. It gives the board of directors the opportunity to make profound restructuring changes without being exposed to personal risks and financial liability in case of failure.

However, experts point out that accelerated arrangement proceedings are not for everyone. - They are aimed at entrepreneurs who are in the initial phase of the crisis, i.e. those who are not yet subject to numerous bailiff enforcement proceedings, but the amount of unperformed liabilities is already significant. Thus, the initiation of further bailiff executions may threaten the loss of liquidity, explains Małgorzata Anisimowicz. She adds that the proceedings may be conducted on the condition that the sum of disputed receivables does not exceed 15 per cent of the sum of receivables entitling to vote on the arrangement.

Entrepreneurs planning an accelerated arrangement procedure should still bear in mind a few rules. Without their fulfilment, such proceedings may not be opened by the court. Firstly, the documentation attached to the application for the opening of proceedings must present rational arguments, e.g. ensuring that there will be no harm to creditors and indicating the company's restructuring capacity.

- It is also necessary to ensure that the restructuring measures taken can be implemented in a short period of time, which allows the company's situation to be stabilised and its financial situation to be improved, making it possible, above all, to implement the arrangement, explains Marlena Grybowicz.

Finally, it is important to remember about the costs. The debtor pays an advance for the expenses of the accelerated arrangement proceedings in the amount of the average monthly remuneration in the enterprise sector without payments of rewards from profit in the third quarter of the previous year, announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office. On top of that, there is the remuneration of the court supervisor, which depends, inter alia, on the number of creditors who are participants in the proceedings and the amount of their receivables, but also on the scope of activities undertaken by the court supervisor or the length of the proceedings.

Material appeared in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna:on 3 December 2019