An investigation into the appointment role and success of examinership in Ireland

Abstract

Overview

Legislation governing the process of Examinership was introduced by the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1990.The current economic climate has left many companies facing extreme difficulties meeting financial obligations and has led to the doubling of the number of companies applying for Examinership. Grant

Examinership assists the survival of a company by making arrangements to reduce creditor balances and protecting the intangible assets of the company. It explores all opportunities to provide for a company’s survival, while control is retained by the Directors. Brain Foley has described Examinership “as the process by which a company is placed under the protection of the court for a period of time, during which claims and debts against it are for the most part, frozen”.

Purpose Previous research presented the topic of successful Examinerships solely on a quantitative basis, the current research aims to view Examinership in entirety and provide qualitative explanations on the process with particular focus on the appointment, role and success of Examinerships in Ireland. This will close the gap in the literature which exists at present.

Findings There are no definite steps to success as each company in difficulty is different in many ways and therefore should be addressed in a manner suitable to their needs The success of the process should not be viewed on overall statistics alone but on the merits of each case which has survived to confirm the success of the process in Ireland.

Importance The process of Examinership is a very powerful restructuring tool, the outcome of the process offered is undoubtedly better than the outcome offered by Liquidation or Receivership. If the results of this research are used in an educational manner then there will be more awareness of this corporate rescue plan.