Re Duro Felguera Australia Pty Ltd (admins apptd)

Duro Felguera Australia Pty Ltd (DFA) was a wholly owned subsidiary of Duro Felguera, S.A. (DFSA). The administrators of DFA applied for an extension of the convening period for the second meeting of creditors. The application was made pursuant to s 439A(6) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) and the court was required to consider whether the extension was justified given the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The court was also required to consider whether the administrators had provided sufficient information to creditors to enable them to make an informed decision about the proposed extension. The administrators argued that they needed more time to investigate the company’s assets and liabilities, including potential claims against third parties, and to enable DFSA to consider whether or not to propose a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) in light of the outcome of the $27m funding proceeding and, if so, on what terms. The court accepted that the administrators had not yet been able to form the opinions required by r 75-225(3) of the Insolvency Practice Rules (Corporations) 2016 (Cth) (IPR) and that it was in the interests of creditors to extend the convening period. The court was satisfied that the administrators had provided sufficient information to creditors to enable them to make an informed decision about the proposed extension. The court granted the application and extended the convening period up to and including 27 September 2020. The court also granted leave to apply for any further extension of the convening period referred to in para 2 above or any other matter arising in the administration of the company generally. The plaintiffs were granted leave to apply for any further extension of the convening period referred to in para 2 above or any other matter arising in the administration of the company generally. The plaintiffs were to give notice of these orders to the creditors of the company on or before 27 March 2020 by placing a copy of these orders on the website maintained by the Plaintiffs at https://kordamentha.com/creditors/duro-felguera-australia and sending a copy of these orders by email to any creditor of the company for whom or which the Plaintiffs have an email address and by mail to all other creditors of the company for whom or which the plaintiffs do not have an email address. Liberty to apply was granted to any person who can demonstrate sufficient interest to discharge or vary these orders on the giving of reasonable notice to the Plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ costs of and incidental to this application were costs and expenses in the administration of the company, and were to be paid out of the assets of the company. The orders made by the Court were to be entered forthwith.