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The earlier the file is opened, the more control the director keeps over the business. We much prefer prevention to proceedings.
A business that is doing badly often knows it six months before admitting it. Yet the range of solutions narrows as time passes: when a mandat ad hoc is opened, almost everything is still possible; by the liquidation stage, nothing is. The only parameter the director really controls is the date on which they take advice.
For twenty years the firm has acted in prevention and in insolvency proceedings, for directors and for creditors alike, before the commercial courts of Bayonne and Pau, working with the court-appointed liquidators and administrators of the district.
An analysis of the cash position, of tax and social security debts, of the security given and of the director’s own commitments: we establish first whether cessation of payments — the inability to meet debts as they fall due out of available assets — is made out, since that governs everything else.
A confidential and voluntary procedure, opened on a simple application by the director, who stays in charge. The officer appointed helps renegotiate the debts and the bank facilities without the market or the suppliers being told.
Also confidential, it allows an agreement to be negotiated with the main creditors, which the court may approve. It also opens the way to a pre-arranged sale, known as a prepack, which preserves the value of the business.
Open to a business that is not yet in cessation of payments, they freeze the liabilities and stay enforcement while a plan is put together. They remain under-used because they require acting before the situation is compromised.
The observation period, continued trading, any dismissals, a continuation plan or a sale plan: we assist the director at every stage and argue for the plan that preserves the most jobs and the most value.
On the buyer’s side, we prepare the offer, check the perimeter being taken over — contracts, employees, security — and argue for it at the hearing. The timetable is short: a few weeks separate the call for offers from the decision.
On the creditor’s side, a proof of debt is subject to a short time limit whose expiry extinguishes the right. We file proofs, challenge admissions and enforce the security, guarantees included.
Shortfall of assets, mismanagement, commingling of assets, disqualification from managing a company: these claims are prepared for in advance, by keeping a clear record of decisions. We defend the director when they are brought.
The right moment
A mandat ad hoc opened six months before the cash runs out saves the business in confidence. The same situation, discovered after cessation of payments, is dealt with before the court, in public.
The subject is the same. It is when it is dealt with that makes the cost.
How we work
You set out the situation, we say frankly whether we are the right people and what the work would involve. No commitment at this stage.
It describes what is done, what is not, the basis on which fees are calculated and the timetable. Nothing starts without your written agreement.
One lawyer holds your file; each question is dealt with by whichever of us handles it every day. You have only one person to call.
Formalities, filings, deadlines: the firm takes over and keeps you informed until the file is closed.
Frequently asked questions
When your available assets no longer cover the debts that are due. Available assets mean cash that can be drawn on immediately, plus confirmed credit lines; debts that are due mean those that have fallen due and are being demanded. Many directors believe they have reached that point when they have not yet — and the reverse happens too.
Yes, within forty-five days, unless you apply within that period for conciliation to be opened. Overrunning it exposes you to a personal sanction, in particular disqualification from managing a company, and weakens any later defence on a shortfall of assets.
Yes. The procedure is neither published nor noted on the trade register, and third parties learn of it only if the director decides to bring them into the negotiation. That is what makes it the most effective tool for as long as the situation is not irretrievably compromised.
In safeguard proceedings, individual guarantors benefit from the stay of enforcement and can rely on the plan. In a court-supervised reorganisation the protection is more limited, and it disappears in compulsory liquidation. It is one of the strongest arguments for opening a file early.
Debts properly incurred after the opening judgment, for the purposes of the observation period, are paid when due and rank with priority. Debts arising before it, on the other hand, can no longer be settled: paying them exposes the director to a liability claim.
It continues, and the administrator or the debtor may ask for it to be carried on. The landlord cannot terminate for rent falling due before the proceedings, but may act where rent falling due afterwards is not paid, after a period of three months.
The rule is that the director and their close relatives are barred from bidding, with narrowly framed exceptions that require the court’s authorisation on an application by the public prosecutor. Structures designed to get round this rule are looked for as a matter of course.
Practice areas involved
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