Schemes of Arrangement

Scheme of Arrangement is a procedure which can be used by a financially troubled company to reach a binding agreement with its creditors about payment of all, or part of, its debts over an agreed period of time. A Scheme of Arrangement can be proposed by the directors of the company, or the liquidator of the company.

Before the Scheme of Arrangement proposal is made, an application can be made to court for a moratorium which prevents creditors from taking action against the company or its property. However, if no legal proceedings are imminent, then the costs of such a court application could be avoided..

The meeting decides whether to approve the Scheme of Arrangement. If 75% of the creditors agree to the proposal, it is then binding on all creditors who had notice of the meeting and were entitled to vote.

The company can continue trading during the Scheme of Arrangement and afterwards.

• Businesses that have experienced trading difficulties since start up and need time to prove their business model.
• Businesses that want to avoid the stigma of liquidation.
• Businesses that know they can be profitable and successful in the future but need a bit of time.
• Business that need some time to put together a new business plan for the company.
• Businesses that will be profitable in the short term but are under pressure from creditors
• Businesses that are profitable but have experienced bad debts or late payers this affecting the short term health of the company.
• Businesses that need to restructure.
• Companies that wish to wind down trading in an orderly fashion
• Companies that wish to close down over a certain time.A Scheme of Arrangement proposal is drafted by the directors with our assistance. We are experts in drafting such proposals.  The approved Scheme of Arrangement binds every person who in accordance with the rules had notice of, and was entitled to vote at, that meeting (whether or not he was present or represented at the meeting) as if he were a party to the Scheme of Arrangement .

• At the Scheme of Arrangement meeting 75% in value of those creditors entitled to and who vote either in person or by proxy at the meeting must approve the Scheme of Arrangement .
• The proposals are then sent to the company’s shareholders and appropriate classes of creditors giving them 14 days notice of the Scheme of Arrangement meetings. We have extensive experience of organizing such shareholders and creditors meetings.

• The company directors must be fully honest and transparent about the company’s affairs. The Scheme of Arrangement should have a detailed memorandum outlining the company’s history and the reasons for its current financial difficulties.
• Unlike Examinerships, the business need not be viable. Schemes of Arrangement may be used to wind up a company’s affairs and pay a greater dividend to creditors. In such “wind up” schemes, monies could be set aside for voluntary strike off.
• We would suggest that the company’s existing accountants attach a suitable accountant’s report to the company’s statement of affairs confirming that it has been accurately prepared.
• A Scheme of Arrangement must offer the creditors more money than would be received if the company went into liquidation. We have prepared a template “Statement of Estimated Outcome” which the company’s accountants may use.
• If the company wishes to trade during the Scheme of Arrangement period, it must have sufficient working capital to trade and pay day to day expenses.
• The creditors must support the rescue process. It is therefore advantageous for the company directors to canvass support of the creditors in advance of the Scheme of Arrangement .

• The government, banks and large creditors are keen on promoting the ”rescue culture” and so they are generally prepared to work with troubled businesses to save them.
• Scheme of Arrangements allow structured payment of tax arrears.
• A Scheme of Arrangement is a cost effective method for avoiding outright insolvency for a company with financial problems.
• A Scheme of Arrangement is legally binding.
• A Scheme of Arrangement allows the core business to trade on and so the provides the company directors with continued income.
• A Scheme of Arrangement allows the director’s time to re-organise and restructure the company without the threat of creditor action.
• A Scheme of Arrangement costs less than other more serious insolvency procedures such as receivership, liquidations or examinerships..
• A Scheme of Arrangement avoids the need for a detailed investigation of the affairs of the company and if successful there would be no prospect of the directors facing reckless trading/fraudulent trading actions or Restriction/Disqualification proceedings.
• Some tax losses may be retained.
• Schemes of Arrangements have the following advantages over Examinerships:

1. Less cost.
2. Less publicity.
3. No need for an Independent Expert’s Report to commence the process.
4. No advertising of the “Business for Sale”
5. No need to prove to the High Court that there is a “reasonable prospect” of the company surviving.
6. No need for approval of the High Court to enter the process. This can be particularly relevant where the directors have, for example, deliberately under-stated liabilities on tax returns. The High Court might reject an Examinership in such a case.
7. The shareholders will not lose control of their company. In an Examinership, the Examiner is required to entertain possible investments from interested parties. As some shareholders have discovered, they might be ousted by a new investor, even though they spent their lifetimes building up the company.
8. No strict deadlines to adhere to.

However, there are some disadvantages of Schemes of Arrangement , namely:

1. The bank may still appoint a Receiver. (In practice, many banks will be supportive of their customers.)
2. Trade creditors may claim retention of title.
3. There is no provision for compulsory repudiation of leases.
4. The voting thresholds for a Scheme of Arrangement are higher at 75%, as opposed to 51% in an Examinership.
5. Leasing companies may re-possess assets.

The 2014 Companies Act has substantially reduced the complexity and costs of Schemes of Arrangement. Most cases would be suitable for a “two stage” process:

1. Stage 1 Send out Scheme of Arrangement proposals to shareholders and creditors and hold meetings. If shareholders and creditors meetings vote in favour of scheme, then move onto stage 2.
2. Stage 2 Instruct solicitors to bring an application to the High Court to have the scheme approved. This process would involve placing advertisements in 2 daily newspapers stating that the creditors voted in favour of the scheme and that an application will be made to court to approve the scheme.

We believe that we could organise most Schemes of Arrangements for a fee of €5,000 + VAT provided the following conditions were met:

1. Total creditors are less than €1 million. (Fees would need to be negotiated for larger companies.)
2. The liabilities to Preferential Creditors (i.e. Revenue, Rates and employees) can be paid in full, and that there are sufficient funds to pay a dividend to remaining creditors.
3. The company’s existing accountants provide us with the following information;

• Full listing of all company’s creditors and their addresses.
• Full disclosure of any material interests of the directors of the company, whether as directors, members or creditors of the company.
• If creditors have supplied stock under retention of title, we would require a detailed stock take.
• Comprehensive detailed memorandum of company’s history and reasons for current financial difficulties.
• If the company is continuing to trade, projections would be required.
• Agree with us what the proposed Scheme of arrangement entails. For example, are the directors going to advance additional funds to pay a dividend etc.
• Statement of Estimated Outcome. We would provide a template, and the company’s accountants would need to:

• Prepare a Statement of Affairs to a recent date. A suitable accountant’s report confirming that the statement of affairs has been accurately prepared
• Prepare a Statement of Estimated Outcome in a liquidation.

1. Meeting with the directors to assess the suitability of a Scheme of Arrangement.
2. Liaising with the Company’s accountants to prepare the scheme.
3. Organising the Board of Directors meetings to formally approve the Scheme of arrangement.
4. Posting out the Scheme’s proposals to shareholders and creditors along with proxy forms etc.
5. One of our partners would “conduct” the shareholders and creditors meetings, whilst one of the directors would act as “chairman” of the shareholders and creditors meetings. We are experts in conducting such meetings, and assessing the validity of proxies submitted etc.
6. We would prepare the minutes and voting certificates of each of the meetings for sign off by the Chairman.
7. If the Scheme was accepted by the creditors, we would then assist the Company to instruct solicitors to bring the necessary application to court to have it formally approved. We have a panel of solicitors firms who are prepared to make such applications for a fixed fee of €5,000 + VAT provided the applications are not contested by creditor.

For further information please contact Jim Stafford or Tom Murray on 01 661 4066 or jim.stafford@frielstafford.ie or tom.murray@frielstafford.ie