Corporations – insolvency – voluntary administration – deed of company arrangement – standing to bring application under ss445D and 447A of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – whether administrators had a conflict of interest

In Habrok (Dalgaranga) Pty Ltd v Gascoyne Resources Ltd [2020] FCA 1395 (29 September 2020) the plaintiff, Habrok, sought orders under ss445D and 447A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) terminating a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) executed by the first to seventh defendants (GCY Group) and the eighth defendant (administrators/FTI).

Background

After the investigation of options available to the GCY Group, the administrators recommended to the creditors of the GCY Group that a DOCA should be entered into involving a recapitalisation.

A rival DOCA was proposed by Habrok Mining Pty Ltd, the holding company of Habrok, at the second meeting of creditors. The creditors voted to cause the companies in the CGY…