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Pre Insolvency Phases in Spain

Help your company ride the rough tide and remain afloat

Our corporate lawyers will guide you through the process step-by-step.

How can a lawyer help me?

Our lawyers at Lexidy LegalTech Boutique are seasoned experts in the process of negotiating refinancing agreements that comply with legal requirements. We will ensure your position and rights are protected in a stressful situation so that you can emerge from it in the best possible shape.

Having a professionally-written agreement is crucial to ensuring that no clawback action can occur a subsequent bankruptcy happens. With Lexidy’s legal team you can be at ease that your agreement complies with the law and will be respected by Spain’s court no matter what.

¨We will be with you each step of the journey.¨

What is a Pre-insolvency phase?

Pre-insolvency phase refers to a state of financial distress where a business has difficulties and is no longer able to repay the debts when they are due.

This problem can normally be resolved by reaching an agreement with the creditors and refinancing the existing terms of the debt. This avoids filing for a bankruptcy procedure.

These agreements can be a collective agreement, an individual agreement or an agreement that’s approved by the court of justice.

If performed correctly, these agreements are protected by the law and if bankruptcy occurs later, they are excluded from a clawback action to nullify them.

What are the requirements for a collective, individual or approved refinancing agreement?

A Collective Agreement requires

That 60% of the total debtor’s liabilities are included in the agreement. An auditor must certify and verify this.
A viability plan for the company in the short- and medium-term.
The inclusion of either an extension of the amortization time or a reduction of the amount of outstanding debt. Both can also deployed.
A public notary to witness its signing.

An Individual Agreement must

Improve the previous assets over liabilities ratio.
Make the amount of current assets greater than the amount of existing liabilities.
Be notarized.

However, it doesn’t require a minimum percentage of the debtor’s liabilities nor a viability plan.

A Court Approved Agreement requires

At least 51% of the debtor’s liabilities to be represented. This cannot include public, labor and trade debts.
No more than one agreement per year

What is the process of getting an enforceable refinancing agreement?

For most clients, there are two processes.

Collective and Individual Agreements start with a true and reliable notification to the creditors to assert their claims. Then the parties negotiate the outcome and, when an agreement is reached, it is notarized.

Court Approved Agreements also start with the negotiation with the creditors. However, the agreement is then sent to the court for its approval after the agreement is reached. After the agreement is approved, there is a cram-in period so that other creditors that did not previously take part can later join the agreement. There’s no such provision in Collective or Individual Agreements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the effects of the agreement be extended to other creditors?

It’s possible to extend the effects of the agreement to other creditors if certain thresholds are met via approval by the Court.

Is there any benefit for the creditor to accept a refinancing agreement?

In all cases, half of the new money extended as part of a refinancing agreement is upgraded to be considered Public Debt. In Spain, this debt has the highest preference when repaying debts during the bankruptcy process.

Our Story

We are a department formed by qualified legal experts who have been trained in the field of corporate law. We work on these requests every day and it’s our passion. For us, Lexidy is a way of life and what excites us the most is to be able to deliver the happiness and satisfaction of a successful process. We want to help you achieve your goals and dreams.