Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: Mr Justice Hildyard granted the application of the administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) to end the administration and move the company into a members’ voluntary liquidation. The express statutory alternatives for exiting a company from administration in paragraphs 83 and 84 of Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) do not exclude a members’ voluntary liquidation. The application was granted in uncommon circumstances where the administration had been successful leaving a surplus of assets for equity distributions. Nevertheless, the decision suggests that the options for exiting a company from administration are not closed. The proposed option should be consistent with the statutory architecture and the mechanics for achieving it simpler and more cost effective than alternatives. The court also granted one and two-year extensions to the long-running administrations of other Lehman entities: Lehman Brothers Holdings Plc, Lehman Brothers Limited, and LB Holdings Intermediate 2 Limited.
For the rest of the article by Ololade Saromi on Re Lehman Brothers International (Europe) and others [2025] EWHC 2871 (Ch), click here to access it on Lexis Nexis.