Vol 20 (2023) - Issue 4

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Examinership in Ireland: Recent Cases Emphasise that a Conditional Rescue Scheme Is not a Bar to Court Approval

Synopsis
Since its introduction in 1990, the Irish corporate rescue scheme known as examinership has proven itself adept at evolving to the requirements of modern complex cross-border corporate restructurings.
Two recent judgments of the Irish High Court indicate that this flexibility remains and will be of increased importance in the coming years as Irish examinership prevails as one of the restructuring mechanisms of choice for international distressed corporate groups.
In both the Norwegian Air1 and Mallinckrodt plc judgments, the Irish High Court emphasised that a proposed rescue scheme is capable of approval by the courts even where there are elements of significant conditionality within that rescue scheme. While this could be interpreted as a shift from previous practice, we see it in a different light – namely as a clear indication that the Irish High Court is attuned to the realities of the many moving parts that exist within a crossborder restructuring.