William Fry recently advised Ballantyne Re plc, an Irish reinsurance SPV, on the approval and implementation of a landmark Irish law scheme of arrangement to restructure its reinsurance obligations and US$1.65billion of senior New York law governed debt.

This article outlines how schemes of arrangement operate in Irish law and discusses the contested sanction hearing before the Irish High Court.  The judgment considered important concepts such as the applicable test when sanctioning a scheme, the ability of an Irish scheme to restructure New York law governed debt and whether an Irish law scheme could provide for third party releases. The Court considered numerous cases from other jurisdictions and drew upon established principles from those jurisdictions.

This successful scheme of arrangement demonstrates the effectiveness of Irish schemes of arrangement as a tool to implement complex international restructurings.

Click here or on the image below to read the briefing.