Overview
Mark Fennessy, partner at law firm McDermott Will & Emery, said:
“The recent Caffè Nero decision comes hot on the heels of several recent High Court challenges by landlords to CVAs following the high profile cases of New Look and Regis. Although the Caffè Nero decision relates to an unsuccessful interim strike out and summary judgment applications of a landlord’s challenge to a CVA, with a full trial of the challenge being ordered for a later date, it is clear that the courts are being asked to scrutinise CVAs and the processes leading to their approval. This case also closely follows the Virgin Active decision where landlords unsuccessfully challenged the restructuring plan.
All these cases are being closely monitored by commercial landlords and companies contemplating restructuring their leasehold portfolios, and will provide the template for the use of CVAs going forward.”
