Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Re Petrofac Ltd: English administration for Jersey company; UK COMI established by creditor perception under Assimilated Recast Insolvency Regulation; court applies s123 IA 1986 and reasonably likely outcome tests

Published on: 21 November 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency expert

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Article summary

Petrofac Ltd [2025] EWHC 2887 (Ch)

What was the background?

Petrofac Ltd (the Company) is a Jersey-incorporated entity, headquartered in London, that functions as the holding company of the Petrofac Group. Its operations comprise owning shares in subsidiaries, delivering management services, and making loans to other Petrofac Group members. Confronted with financial difficulties, in late 2024 the Company promoted a restructuring plan under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 (the Part 26A plan). Although sanctioned at first instance, dissenting creditors appealed and the Court of Appeal set aside the sanction order. In the wake of that ruling, the Company assessed the feasibility of a business disposal or raising further capital, which evolved into a proposal for senior creditors to acquire the business via a pre-pack administration. Those workstreams progressed in tandem with an application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court; permission was ultimately refused on the basis that the Company had reached an agreement in principle on an alternative restructuring proposal. The landscape then changed materially on 17 October 2025, when TenneT terminated a contract that was fundamental to the business, marking a significant shift for the Company...

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